Martin & Mortimer

Regretably, from time to time, I am asked to inspect sub-standard work undertaken by damp specialists, timber repair companies and builders.

This week I looked at a period farmhouse, principally in relation to building work but was taken aback by the unsympathetic approach to resolving a damp issue. It was absolutely apparant that the damp specialist had not understood the type of property in question and the materials employed. The remedial work extended to injection of a chemical damp proof course (partly in to stone!) and internal replastering with a modern ‘hard’ plaster.

This was not, however, a property suffering from rising damp but from poor external repair, inadequate disposal of rain and surface water  and a combination of other factors which prevented the walls from ‘breathing’. Because the causes of the damp had not been addressed, the damp was still present and problems of cellar fungus had continued to spread behind new plaster and skirtings. In short, all the work undertaken was a waste of time and money.

Not all damp specialists are bad. Some take a very sympathetic approach but be careful that they do not have a vested interest in simply selling a product. More often than not, a so called cured damp problem as a consequence of chemical injection is actually a concealed damp problem.

In the vast majority of cases, chemical injection damp proof courses are neither required or desirable.

It looks like time has been called on the Home Information Pack (HIP). As from tomorrow (21st May 2010) there will no longer be a requirement for a HIP to be produced before a property can be marketed. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will still need to be produced under EU Directive.

So was it worth it? The concept behind the HIP was, principally, to reduce delays in the home buying process and increase transparency. In reality, the delays were simply shifted from during the process to before the process.

The situation was compounded by the fact that the legal search carried out in most HIP’s was limited and most Solicitors refused (probably quite rightly) to rely on them. This necessitated a further search, additional delay and more expenditure.

When the HIP was first mooted, there was to be a condition report included. In their wisdom, it was decided that rather than rely on thousands of able and very well qualified surveyors, they would throw the market open to anyone to train as a Home Inspector (no previous experience required). Anyone wanting to be a Home Inspector had to pass through this training. Not surprisingly, most surveyors felt this was rather insulting to their professional qualifications and expertise. As a result, come implementation day, there were nowhere near enough Home Inspectors and the idea of a condition report was scrapped.

I strongly suspect that the HIP will not be missed by solicitors, surveyors, estate agents or the majority of the general public. I do, however, have a great deal of sympathy for the 3000 or so people who spend their days compiling the HIP’s who come tomorrow will have lost their livelihood.