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Contract for Home Condition Survey
Parties to agreement:
Homebuyer
Address of property to be inspected
Home Inspector(HI)
Andrew Martin(SAVA005272)
Date of signing
Fee
.
The above fee has been agreed in advance by all parties to the Contract and is to be paid no later than 2 weeks after the inspection has been completed. Any late payment will result in a penalty charge of no less than 25% of the original fee.
The HCS(Home Condition Survey) will require an on-site presence of between 3 and 4 hours and the Report will be completed within 10 working days of the inspection.
Date of Inspection
Table of Contents
Standard conditions of engagement
Rights of the HI to withdraw from the contract
Rights of the client to withdraw from the contract
Data protection
Complaints and redress
Compliance with Auditing and Monitoring Requirements
I agree and accept in full all the Terms and Conditions contained within this Contract and that I have the appropriate authority to commission the above inspection for the property above.
Signature of Homebuyer
Signature of Home Inspector
..
1. Standard Conditions of Engagement
This Home Condition Survey is produced by a Home Inspector, who is a member of SAVA (a government-approved Certification Scheme).
The Home Inspector must provide an objective opinion about the condition of the property which the buyer must be able to rely on and use
To become a member of SAVA and be able to produce Home Condition Surveys, a Home Inspector has to:
pass an assessment of skills, in line with National Occupational Standards; and
have insurance that provides cover when a Home Inspector is negligent.
The Home Inspector must follow the necessary standards and SAVAs code of conduct.
A Home Condition Survey is not valid unless it has been produced by a Home Inspector who is a member of a government-approved scheme.
The Home Condition Survey is in a standard format and is based on these terms, which set out what you should expect of both the Home Inspector and the Home Condition Survey. You and the Home Inspector cannot amend these terms.
Any other services the Home Inspector may provide are not covered by these terms and so must be covered by a separate contract.
If you have any complaint about this report, you can complain by following the complaints procedure, which is explained in more detail at the end of this document.
a)What the Report does tell you
This report tells you:
about the construction and condition of the home on the date it was inspected; and
whether more enquiries or investigations are needed.
The reports main aim is to tell you about any defects that need urgent attention or are serious. It also tells you about things that need further investigation to prevent damage to the structure of the building.
The report gives condition ratings to the major parts of the main building (it does not give condition ratings to outbuildings). However, the report does not mention minor defects that do not need building work to put them right.
b)What the Report does not tell you
This report does not tell you the value of your home or cover things that will be considered when a valuation is provided, such as the area the home is in or the availability of public transport or facilities.
It does not tell you about any minor defects that would not normally have any effect on a buyers decision to buy.
The report does not give advice on the cost of any repair work or the types of repair which should be used.
The report is not an asbestos inspection under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.
If you need advice on subjects that are not covered by the Home Condition Survey, you must arrange for it to be provided separately.
c)What is inspected
The Home Inspector inspects the inside and outside of the main building and all permanent outbuildings, and the parts of the gas, electricity and water and drainage services that can be seen.
The inspector gives each part of the structure of the main building a condition rating, to make the report easy to follow. The condition ratings are as follows.
Condition rating
Definition
No repair is currently needed. Normal maintenance must be carried out.
No repair is currently needed. Normal maintenance must be carried out.
These are defects which are either serious and/or require urgent repair or replacement.
INII
Not inspected (See important note below)
d)Important note
The inspection is non-invasive. This means that the Home Inspector does not take up carpets, floor coverings or floorboards, move furniture or remove the contents of cupboards. Also, the Home Inspector does not remove secured panels or undo electrical fittings.
The Home Inspector will say at the start of sections D, E and F of the report if it was not possible to inspect any parts of the home that are normally reported on. If the Home Inspector is concerned about these parts, the report will tell you about any further investigations that are needed. The Home Inspector does not report on the cost of any work to correct defects or how repairs should be carried out. Some maintenance and repair may be costly.
2.Rights of The Home Inspector to withdraw from the Contract
The following assumptions are made in advance of the Inspection taking place,if any of them prove to be incorrect for whatever reason the HI has the right to cancel the inspection and charge an appropriate fee to cover expenses and costs incurred.
The property is in a safe condition and poses no threat to Health and Safety beyond the normal domestic risks that could reasonably be expected in a property of similar type.
Access to property will be complete and will not be denied in any way deleterious to the successful completion of the inspection.
All services will be connected,incuding a light emitter in each room.
No part of the property can be constituted as a building site
Where building works are in progress,then they are being supervised by someone competent in construction Health and Safety Regulations.
3.Rights of the client to withdraw from the contract
The client has the right at any time to cancel the inspection,giving written notice of their intention to do so.Should this happen the HI has the right to charge a cancellation fee sufficient to cover time and expenses.
4.Data protection
As little personal information as possible will be requested and will normally be kept to the buyers name and phone number.
No personal data of the buyer will be used for any other purposes other than those affecting the inspection.
5.Compaints and redress
I aim to offer customers the highest levels of customer care and professional integrity,but there may be occasions when you feel you have cause for complaint.If so,I will always try to resolve the problem quickly and to your satisfaction.If you are unhappy with my response,you can take your complaint further through the complaints procedure.
Please contact me in any of the following ways:
Telephone:07500 929345/01273 889532
Letter:12,Tangmere Rd,Brighton,BN1 8TJ
Email:home-inspector@live.co.uk
I would aim to respond to your initial contact within 48hrs and if necessary revisit the site within 10 working days to examine any area of concern.It would be my intention to resolve all outstanding matters within 20 working days of the original contact.
If you feel that these or any other issues have not been addressed satisfactorily by the HI within an acceptable timeframe, then you can send your complaint to the SAVA Certification Scheme.This scheme will check your complaint and then pass it to an Independent Adjudication Service,who will investigate it.
I support fully and am a member of the Home Inspector Registration Scheme
Following the complaints procedure does not affect your legal rights
Home Inspector Certification Scheme(SAVA) contact details:
Tel:01908 442288
Address:Davy Avenue,Knowhill,Milton Keynes,MK5 8NA
Website:www.sava-cs.org.uk
Email:info@sava-cs.org.uk
6.Compliance with Auditing and Monitoring Requirements of The Regulatory Bodies
The terms of this contract imply that all works will be carried out in accordance with the monitoring and auditing requirements of the SAVA Certification Scheme of which the Home Inspector is a member and bound by its professional code of conduct.