Building Forensics Investigation, 13 acre 900+ apartment Urban Village Development, Croydon

The client required a Building Forensic investigation for this 13 acre, near-1000 home newly built urban village development in Croydon, which was plagued with multiple latent defects resulting in a £3million design solution to remedy the issues. The RICS Chartered Surveyor assigned to this project completed the forensic investigation, first carrying out a complex diagnostic exercise, analysis of design and as-built drawings, and use of smart technology to ensure accurate defect identification, before then preparing forensic reports and correlating evidence. Read the full case study here. 

This thorough building investigation and subsequent forensic reports, evidence and analysis informed next steps, and equipped the building manager with everything they needed to remedy the issues that had been plaguing the development since handover. Importantly, they were able to make the building safe and performing as required, and they had the evidence and information needed to recover appropriate remedial costs from relevant parties.

Housing disrepair – severe damp and mould case, instructed by legal firm representing registered provider, London

In what the attending RICS Chartered Surveyor described as one of the worst case of damp and mould they have seen in their over-three-decade career, this tenant was severely impacted as a result of a leak from their upstairs neighbour and his home was uninhabitable. An extremely vulnerable individual with severe learning difficulties, this tenant lived alone in a ground floor 1-bed flat and the issues went under the radar for many months until a neighbour intervened. The matter later escalated into a housing disrepair claim, prompting an independent inspection instructed by the landlord’s appointed legal firm.

The inspection found that the issues were caused by a poorly installed adapted bathroom in the flat above, where the water was escaping behind the tiles and under the flooring, and straight into the flat downstairs. Worsening each time the neighbour upstairs had a shower, over the next 6 months or so the water would eventually saturate the entire flat, leaving no electrical power in the property except in the kitchen, every room severely damp, sodden carpets and flooring, and mould completely covering the walls and ceilings. The tenant had created a tent-style tarpaulin over his bed in an attempt to have a dry place to sleep, but ultimately the property was unsafe to live in and not fit for habitation, which the surveyor identified within moments of attending. As well as completing the inspection and providing a disrepair report, the surveyor was extremely concerned about the clearly vulnerable tenant and raised some safeguarding concerns, and recommended the tenant be temporarily rehoused immediately. The adapted bathroom upstairs was remediated, and the works to repair the ground floor property were completed and the tenant returned, with increased support thanks to the landlord working to strengthen the tenant’s support network following the safeguarding referral.

Expert Witness Reports

Our RICS Chartered Surveyors are highly experienced in providing Expert Witness reports, including attending court where required. Here are just a few examples of many:  

¬ Nationwide registered housing provider, for a 5-block estate in East London. Instructed to prepare an expert witness report regarding access, egress and security, including fire doors, security doors and other issues. The client was bringing a class action case against the developer due to several breaches, and the expert witness report was critical to the case.

¬ Registered housing provider, for coroner's court following the tragic death of a young boy who fell from a third storey window. Instructed to prepare an expert witness report for coroners court, including being on standby to testify, to identify how this tragedy was possible when a window restrictor device was fitted. This report was an important piece of this very sad case.

¬ Hospital in Oxford, for issues relating to NHS keyworker accommodation. Following report of human waste running down the street, Public Health England became involved and the matter became critical. Instructed to prepare an expert witness report, which observed that issues arose following recent refurbishment to create ensuite bathrooms where the foul drainage had been connected to surface water drain. The issues were swiftly resolved and the matter was settled.

Latent Defects project, for G15 Registered Provider in large new-build development in Chiswick

The RICS Chartered Surveyor assigned to this project was instructed by the client, a G15 registered housing provider, to complete defects inspections across a large new build development. Inspecting hundreds of homes, as well as internal communal areas and the external buildings, this was a £2million latent defects project. On one building, the windows had not been correctly installed across the entire façade, and this had led to a window being blown out in high winds. As well as being extremely concerning for residents and the building owner, this also generated media attention and placed a spotlight on the new development. The Surveyor was brought in to complete thorough defect inspections, and to diagnose a number of high profile building issues. In addition to the windows, which he Surveyor identified was due to missing centre fixings required on windows over 1.8 meters, the defects including roof leaks, water ingress, heating problems, and multiple other issues. They also identified that lightning protection wasn’t connected, and as a result a retrofit post-completion solution was installed. The extensive site surveys led to a comprehensive defects schedule, noting over a thousand items that did not comply with the statutory requirements. Identifying issues in the defects period saves landlords millions of pounds each year, and ensures the safety and quality assurance for residents buying and living in these homes.   

Housing disrepair - leaseholders' collective legal action, Chelsea

This luxury waterside development in Chelsea had over 196 flats across 2 blocks, and with over 30 apartments with active leaks this client was facing collective legal action in the form of a joint legal claim from multiple leaseholders. Numerous apartments within this high-end development had been plagued by water leaks, and multiple investigations over the years had led to various diagnoses and remedial works, but none had successfully resolved or alleviated the issue, and the leaks continued. With mounting frustration from leaseholders impacted by persistent leaks, those effected banded together to form a joint legal claim.

The RICS Chartered Surveyor assigned to this housing disrepair case attended and methodically investigated floor by floor, flat by flat, until they identified where the leaks were coming from. Carrying out meticulous inspections of every property, and performing two-person testing to verify movement on the water meter whilst monitoring water usage in each property, the surveyor was able to determine which properties were leaking based on water meter movement despite no water demand. Once the properties with leaks were established, the connection in each property was inspected and opened up, leading to the discovery that the flexible hoses connecting the bathroom pods to the mains supply were not strong enough to take the pressure, causing many of them to leak. This hard-to-diagnose defect had been missed up until these disrepair inspections, and the experience, knowledge, and attention to every detail is what led to the accurate diagnosis of the active leaks, and prevention of potential future leaks occurring in other properties within the development. With the reports confirming the identification of the defects and a true solution, the developer and managing agent worked together to remedy the defects, and the claim was successfully settled.

Complex Party Wall matter, St Albans

Party wall matters vary greatly in their simplicity, or indeed complexity, and this case study offers a spectacularly challenging example with multiple layers of complication. Read the full case study here.

Adopting a common sense approach with all parties, and bringing everyone together on their united objective to resolve the dangerous wall, we represented 4 households and worked with the surveyor for the other 2 households. Navigating the numerous challenges and complexities, we established a sensible way forward to agree the wall repair and a sensible cost contribution from all parties, which ultimately led to the Party Wall award being created and subsequently completion of works.

Fire doors compliance checks, Managing Agent on behalf of Residential Landlord, Harrow