| Conseils pratiques
The tasks of the building surveyor
For most individuals, contact with a surveyor happens just once in a lifetime: when the surveyor is sent by the lending organisation to value the property that the borrower wishes to purchase. The tasks of the surveyor are, nevertheless, much broader ... |
The role of the surveyor is often perceived by individuals to be the evaluation of a property. Let us start by expanding on this.
You should be aware that it is possible to attribute several values, which are sometimes very different, to a single property:
- The monetary value is the price that one can reasonably hope to obtain when selling a property under normal market conditions. It is slightly higher than the value of a forced sale. The monetary value is obviously influenced by the state of the property, its age, architectural importance, location, etc.
- The value as new is the cost of reconstruction after an accident or fire to the building, inclusive of the architect's fees. This is the value of reference for insurers.
- The real value is the value as new less the out datedness.
- The appropriate value, which is subjective, is influenced by things such as emotional factors or use.
- The replacement value is above all an accounting notion used in the framework of inheritance evaluation.
- The construction value, used in the case of land for construction, is that of the building to be constructed, all survey and building costs, fees, expenses, duties and taxes included.
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To work out these values, the surveyor relies on his technical abilities, as well as on his knowledge of national and local market developments.
What the surveyor is and what he is not
A surveyor provides a report based on technical and economic factors. Besides the value of the property, this report will contain plans, photographs, sketches, a description of the building and how it has been constructed, its age, an assessment of its quality, general comments regarding architectural and town-planning characteristics and various other factors which will have a positive or negative effect on the value.
The surveyor is therefore an analyst, often trained as an architect, engineer or surveyor, but he is neither a judge nor an arbitrator of conflicts or divergences of interest. His results allow the parties involved (lender/borrower, judge, heirs, parties in dispute...) to draw conclusions and take decisions.
In this manner, the surveyor can be called upon by heirs or by a solicitor at the time of inheritance, by neighbours in dispute, by a judge in charge of settling a dispute, by a bank, by an expropriated owner, by an insurance company, by an official from the Department of Finance in the event of a land inheritance contribution, by a firm when turning the building into a company, etc.
Price
The price of an estimation expertise lies between 125 and 375€ (VAT exclusive), depending on the importancy of the job, the trips from and to the property, the price of the building,... Before choosing an expert, you have to be aware of the fact that in general, and expert has specialised in specific matters. Contact one of the addresses below (professional organisations), as they can tell you who is the expert for your problem in your region.
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