What are the further surveys recommended during a Housing Trade Condition Evaluation?

Housing trade is usually at its liveliest in the summer and early autumn, because many people are searching for a home in a new area due to a new job or the location of their children’s school. To ensure a smooth transaction, you should verify the condition of your home beforehand. For this reason, many people place an order for a Housing Trade Condition Evaluation. In many cases, a condition inspection reveals damage that requires a more detailed survey. For example, further surveys involving rainwater drain systems and weeping drains are recommended in the case of 51% of Raksystems’ inspection sites. Such further surveys should also be performed before selling or buying a home.

Further surveys should be performed before the housing transaction

Further surveys are usually condition surveys, i.e. inspections to study a structure, structural element, system or device in more detail to determine the scope and cause of any damage and provide repair action proposals. Structures are usually opened during a condition survey, while a condition inspection in connection with a housing transaction performed in compliance with the KH 90-00394 instructions is usually a sensory and superficial inspection using non-destructive methods.

Damage, deficiencies or errors have been detected in around 55% of the sites inspected by Raksystems. Further surveys are recommended for most of the sites, but only a small part of the recommended surveys is actually performed before the housing transaction takes place. Performing the more detailed surveys before the housing transaction is always worthwhile, because instead of a failed transaction, it may allow you to retrieve your repair investments, sometimes manifold. It will also reduce the likelihood of housing transaction disputes.

Raksystems always agrees on the implementation method of all further surveys in advance with the customer, and a separate agreement on the survey is always signed.

When will a condition inspector recommend further surveys?

Further surveys are usually recommended for one of two reasons: the condition of a structure could not be determined during the site visit to the desired extent or the cause of the damage is not unambiguous and clearly demonstrable.

A condition evaluation site visit covers all areas to which there is access through an opening, including exterior faces, roof and the sides of the building. If there is no access to some areas, they cannot be inspected within the scope of the condition evaluation. In many cases, there is no access to the space below the roof or the space below a ventilated timber floor, and further surveys are always recommended in such cases.

A Housing Trade Condition Evaluation includes the opening of three structures if necessary. A permission from the homeowner is always requested before opening any structures. In the case of some structures, the holes that are made are too small and the visibility is too limited. For example, studying the condition of a high-risk structure to the desired extent always requires more extensive opening of the structure, which is always realised in the form of a further survey.

Transaction Security provides security during a housing transaction

Whenever the condition inspector is unable to determine the condition of a structure with full certainty, they will recommend further surveys. If the further surveys are not performed before the housing transaction or an agreement on the party responsible for the structure is not made, the final result is often a dispute that will take years to resolve.

A hidden defect may also cause a housing transaction dispute. A hidden defect is a defect in a structure that cannot be detected even during a condition inspection performed by an expert and which, for this reason, was not known by the parties of the housing transaction at the time the property was sold. Raksystems Transaction Security is an insurance policy that covers the seller’s financial expenses in case of hidden defects. One of the prerequisites for the granting of the insurance is a Housing Trade Condition Evaluation performed by Raksystems. If further surveys were recommended in the evaluation report, the further surveys must be performed for the structure in question to be covered by the insurance policy. The insurance must be taken out before the right of possession to the home is transferred to the buyer, and it is valid for two or five years, depending on the site.