Professionals To Inspect And Assess The Property Condition

[mike111]

As part of a property purchase process, I'd like to have a professional inspect and assess the condition of the perspective property.

Would appreciate suggestions on reputable professionals in i)BKK and ii)Pattaya.

TIA.

[ThailandInvestmentGuide]

Mike, do you mean valuers or more like engineers/architects/builders (ie. structural integrity)?

[jaapfries]

Mike 111

Please drop me a line at email removed please PM so we may discuss your specific requirements.

We do this type of work for a numner of legal firms, such as DFDL Law Bangkok etc.

Cheers,

Jaap Klasema (mbnz bmd)

Edited May 10, 2012 by Crossy
sorry Jaap, email removed per forum rules

[Darrel]

"As part of a property purchase process, I'd like to have a professional inspect and assess the condition of the perspective property."

Why bother?

Even in the West such "professionals" charge a fortune, do virtually nothing and accept little or no liability when they get it wrong.

What makes you think that anyone doing this here would be in any way more worthwhile?

[PattayaPhom]

"As part of a property purchase process, I'd like to have a professional inspect and assess the condition of the perspective property."

Why bother?

Even in the West such "professionals" charge a fortune, do virtually nothing and accept little or no liability when they get it wrong.

What makes you think that anyone doing this here would be in any way more worthwhile?

Thats not exactly right Darrel, In the UK you have 3 levels of survey, most go for the 'valuation' which is just a driveby..next level the surveyor actually enters the property and may poke his head in the loft but a full survey is well worth doing especially on older properties. you get an indepth report of any defects which will either put you off buying or in a good bargaining position. I dont know of any surveyors as such in Thailand but Jaapfries seems to.

[Darrel]

Thats not exactly right Darrel, In the UK you have 3 levels of survey, most go for the 'valuation' which is just a driveby..next level the surveyor actually enters the property and may poke his head in the loft but a full survey is well worth doing especially on older properties. you get an indepth report of any defects which will either put you off buying or in a good bargaining position.

You're perfectly correct that there are various levels of survey but I think that even the top level is often not as thorough as some people believe it is. And my comment about the liability stands.

[Riley'sLife]

The problem here is finding the correct category of "professional". In the UK most people will have to pay for a Valuation Survey which will be conducted by a qualified Chartered Valuation Surveyor (ARICS or FRICS), as part of their Mortgage Application. This type of "survey" is largely for the benefit of the Lender although the borrower does derive some benefit too as it determines the value of the prospective property. However, it is not a Structural Survey, but a Valuation Survey and, as such, there will be a disclaimer to that effect attached to the report - as mentioned by Darrel.

If you wish to confirm the structural condition of the property this would be executed by either a Chartered Engineer, or a Chartered Building Surveyor. A full Structural Survey will be relatively expensive and should be a very detailed report covering every aspect of the structural integrity of the building and should include all services like plumbing, water, electrics etc.. Alternatively, a topic specific Survey can be undertaken - usually where there is an easily identified problem and costs of rectification are required by the prospective purchaser prior to offer.

I would doubt the existence of such professionalism in this country, and if you are considering the purchase of a defective existing dwelling in Thailand, which would perhaps encompass the majority of the building stock in the land, I would seriously reconsider the idea and not waste your money on either the property or the Survey!

[mike111]

Thanks all for the replies.

I was referring to an inspection to assess the construction quality and to identify structural defects in the property, such as execssive deterioration of the structure, rust, corrosion, etc. . Anything which implies big expenses in the not too distant future.

[Darrel]

I was referring to an inspection to assess the construction quality and to identify structural defects in the property, such as execssive deterioration of the structure, rust, corrosion, etc. . Anything which implies big expenses in the not too distant future.

I think that even if you find someone here who will do this they wont do a good job and they wont accept any liability for what they say either.

Without full liability a survey is largely pointless, I think.

[HerbalEd]

"As part of a property purchase process, I'd like to have a professional inspect and assess the condition of the perspective property."

Why bother?

Even in the West such "professionals" charge a fortune, do virtually nothing and accept little or no liability when they get it wrong.

What makes you think that anyone doing this here would be in any way more worthwhile?

This is a broad sweeping generality. Sounds like you got burned .... probably once. Actually I have had good success in using building/home inspectors to evaluate the condition and structural integrity of various properties. For sure, I'd never buy a property without having it inspected first.

[slapout]

It might help to know what type of structure/property your talking about. If your talking free standing house, Apartment building, high rise hote./office, etc. that could make a big difference in the potential cost and who would be qualified/willing to do what you want As mentioned, any guarentee in this country should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Darrel]

This is a broad sweeping generality. Sounds like you got burned .... probably once.

No, never.

Actually I have had good success in using building/home inspectors to evaluate the condition and structural integrity of various properties. For sure, I'd never buy a property without having it inspected first.

Hmm. Then perhaps you have never lived in a country where surveys are virtually unknown?

I spent most of my adult life in such countries, and have owned some centuries-old buildings on which I never had any surveys done. Having one done would have simply been a waste of money for the reasons I gave.

[Niranut]

I know a couple people who have use "iHome Engineer". And we are planning to hire them to inspect our house before we officially sign off with the developer.

As far as I know, they do not speak English, so you will probably need to have a Thai speaker along. They offer a few different levels of inspection depending on the size of the home/property. They are based on BKK, so you'd have to check to see if they'd be able to help with any Pattaya area properties.

They check it once and will give you a detailed report of any problems they find. You can then determine how much to fix any issues, and if you do fix them, iHome Engineer will come back and check a second time to make sure the problems have been fixed (there's no charge for the second check, as it's included in the fee already). The inspections are pretty detailed-- my friend used them to check her small (104sqm) townhouse before the signed off with the developer, and the iHome guy took 3.5 hours going over everything-- water, electric, structural things, and all of the detail work in the house.

Of course, there's no guarantee they (or anyone, really) will catch each and every issue. But if there are major issues, a company like iHome will most probably catch them.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Niranut

[23962323]

I know a couple people who have use "iHome Engineer". And we are planning to hire them to inspect our house before we officially sign off with the developer.

As far as I know, they do not speak English, so you will probably need to have a Thai speaker along. They offer a few different levels of inspection depending on the size of the home/property. They are based on BKK, so you'd have to check to see if they'd be able to help with any Pattaya area properties.

They check it once and will give you a detailed report of any problems they find. You can then determine how much to fix any issues, and if you do fix them, iHome Engineer will come back and check a second time to make sure the problems have been fixed (there's no charge for the second check, as it's included in the fee already). The inspections are pretty detailed-- my friend used them to check her small (104sqm) townhouse before the signed off with the developer, and the iHome guy took 3.5 hours going over everything-- water, electric, structural things, and all of the detail work in the house.

Of course, there's no guarantee they (or anyone, really) will catch each and every issue. But if there are major issues, a company like iHome will most probably catch them.

I would really like to know just what a survey is in Thailand. Take a core sample of the concrete base,send it to a lab for analysis? , spirit level ,making sure nothing has slipped ,heaved or subsided. It would be impossible to realistically check anything worth checking, if its working OK ,if not it wants fixing. If its about to fall down ,you could shove it back up again for less than a inspection would cost.

[Niranut]

Hmm-- there's a reason I don't normally post in this particular forum I do believe iHome can do a simple survey like that-- you'd need to call for pricing and such. There are also plenty of private engineering companies and government engineers at the amphur offices that can do it for you as well. But I get that you're looking for specific references and people to call, so I'd suggest checking over at the Cool Thai House forum-- they are pretty knowledgeable about this kind of thing and should be able to help if you don't have any luck here.

[meand]

I did some research on this topic a while back. I decided to do the "inspection" myself -- just make myself as informed as possible before going, and take my time. I'm pretty handy (not the best, not the worst), and I definitely got the impression that if I do a good job it isn't going to be any worse than some guy who is either a half drunk farang or a Thai guy who just wants to get out of there and get his fee. I'm sure there are good people out there, but finding them when all their idiosyncrasies are in order may be another thing entirely.