Building Surveying

From acquisition services to maintenance plans, defects and reinstatement cost assessments, we have the technical skills to ensure the best solutions, whatever the type and size of your property or project.

Chartered Building Surveyors

Do you need help dealing with the whole lifecycle of a property, using our leading building surveying expertise to handle every eventuality? 

From acquisition services to maintenance plans, defects and reinstatement cost assessments, we have the technical skills to ensure the best solutions, whatever the type and size of your property or project. Our talented team of chartered building surveyors and quantity surveyors works closely with clients to understand the needs of their business and strategies inside and out.  

What does a building surveyor do?

Building surveyors play a crucial role in the UK’s construction and property sectors, providing a skilled service in the design, maintenance and restoration of buildings. They identify structural faults, survey properties and buildings, recommend repairs and establish who’s responsible for building repair costs.

Dealing with both commercial and residential properties, building surveyors assess the quality of a building to ensure that it is safe, functional and well-maintained. They work closely with clients to understand their plans for the buildings they are investing in, identifying potential defects and advising on improvements, as well as in the design of new properties.

At Naismiths, our surveyors are experienced in dealing with a multitude of tasks in a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, residential, education, offices, retail and industrial.

Why choose to appoint a building surveyor?

As an owner or investor, appointing a building surveyor can help monitor a project, undertake a pre-purchase survey, value works completed or required, provide maintenance reporting and assist with dispute resolution. A chartered building surveyor can help you overcome any obstacles or challenges to allow the use, management, repurposing, sale and acquisition of buildings and portfolios.

We conduct the relevant due diligence for those buying or selling buildings, highlighting the ‘red flags’ that they, the investors and their lawyers need to be aware of.

We advise on all aspects of property ownership, including maintenance and repair, management, defects, compliance, statutory regulations, refurbishments, reinstatement cost assessments and reinstatement of damaged assets.

We also offer a dilapidations advice service, planned preventative maintenance and advice on party wall matters and distressed project recovery – anything our client needs to ensure peace of mind with their acquisition, disposal or project recovery.
Our building surveying services

Our comprehensive range of services is tailored to each client’s needs, and we are specialists in adapting to changes throughout a building’s lifecycle. Our services include:

Building surveys

Naismiths excels in building surveys, showcasing a commitment to thorough inspections, construction analysis, and the creation of clear, concise reports.

The team – all members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) – specialises in objectively assessing building condition. We provide bespoke reports, meticulously crafted by surveyors without relying on standard forms.

Offering a range of building survey types, each report is fully customised to meet specific client requirements, ensuring they receive tailored insights and information to match their investment or strategic aims.

Pre-acquisition surveys

Tailored pre-acquisition surveys are undertaken to assess the technical risks for property acquisitions. Through leading due diligence teams and professional advisors, we provide a fully co-ordinated report with comprehensive, actionable advice.

Dilapidations advice (assessment and negotiation)

We act for commercial property landlords – and tenants – to assess the costs of restoring a property to its original condition when the lease ends, in line with the lease requirements and current legislation. We conduct a detailed analysis of the building and produce a schedule of costs for restoration work, for example stripping out the partitions in an office, redecorating the space, and testing the electrical system. For tenants, we will analyse the landlord’s claim and negotiate on their behalf to ensure their interests are protected. We also have mechanical and electrical engineers to ensure all building services matters are carefully reviewed.

We can negotiate with the other side’s surveyors over the costs involved and use our skills to avoid a protracted legal situation, in line with the RICS Dilapidations Protocol.

Defect diagnosis

We inspect buildings for any possible defects that need attention, such as damp, cracking, decaying structures, leaking roofs and drainage issues. We then recommend remedial works or further specialist investigations – and can put this out to tender ourselves and oversee the resulting works as the project manager.

Schedules of condition

Subject to the lease being entered into, a tenant must have a detailed record of a building’s condition when they first move in, whether it’s a new office, shop, warehouse or other business premises. It provides a photographic ‘snapshot’ in time that links to any future dilapidations advice – helping with potential disagreements over any defects – and resulting cost and damages mitigation.

Portfolio surveys

Our team goes beyond simply commissioning reports, taking on a managerial role in property transactions with a specialism in portfolio instructions. This includes agreeing report requirements and end user specifics, establishing project timescales, and handling details like access arrangements and quality monitoring whilst ensuring consistency of reporting and approach and logistical issues around business operations and local sensitivities.

Party wall agreements

We work with developers and property owners to ensure that building work does not compromise the structural integrity of any shared wall, structure or adjoining properties, for example if a townhouse is being converted to offices. Our party wall specialists can act for both sides to ensure that all work is properly recorded and everyone involved with a legal interest has the right protections.

Technical due diligence (pre-acquisition and disposal)

Clients investing large sums in a building or portfolio need us to thoroughly assess the suitability of the assets and any potential risks involved. We analyse a building’s physical condition and use RAG status reporting to identify the ‘traffic light’ levels of urgency – red, amber or green – and advise accordingly on risk mitigation measures.

We check all the statutory paperwork, including the electrical certification, gas safety, lift servicing and the relevant planning permissions and building regulations, as well as any other areas of documentation that may be relevant within the data room. We also provide due diligence for vendors selling assets such as apartment blocks, hotel chains and data centres – potential buyers need to know the risks and future costs involved in the investment.

Planned preventative maintenance and condition surveys

The team manages building maintenance costs proactively, ensuring thorough reviews, effective planning, and collaboration with specialists, preventing emergency repairs and disruptions.

We draw up schedules to advise clients about the need for regular and routine maintenance of their assets, identifying timescales and costs. These can cover external repairs or common parts such as refurbishments and replacing the boilers, commonly extending over 10 years with identified actions and budgetary costs each year.

This process can help a client’s facilities management contracting service to prioritise a list of liabilities. Naismiths can act as project managers for the work, tendering and appointing contractors and then ensuring the work is completed to an extremely high standard.

Leading building surveyors in the UK

From institutional investors, funders, banks and developers to private investors and individuals, occupiers and property managers, we help you to understand the potential risks involved in the buildings you invest in, occupy or manage.

Our highly-skilled team understands the building surveying sector in great detail. Our expertise is underpinned by years of experience and we have helped clients with a wealth of different challenges.

What our clients say

At Naismiths, we recognise how important it is to hear directly from our clients. Testimonials play a vital role in the work we deliver and reinforce the trust we build with every project. By sharing their experiences, our clients help us maintain the highest standards whilst supporting the continued growth and long-term success of our business.

Burrington Estates has worked closely with Naismiths across a number of our residential developments in the South West, providing our senior and junior lenders with robust analysis and detailed initial/progress reports to support their ongoing funding of the business. The Naismiths team have been a pleasure to work with over the years, their professional and diligent approach to surveying facilitating a strong working relationship. Their in-depth knowledge of the housebuilding industry, meticulous reports and timely site visits, provide both Burrington Estates and our funders with comfort that our developments are on track and work has been completed to a high standard. We look forward to working with Naismiths on many future developments.

Project: Burrington Estates

Richard Gibbons

Corporate Finance Director

Naismiths’ consistent and diligent approach supports the service we are proud to provide to our clients and partners. Always on hand to assist when required, Naismiths help ensure that we continue to deliver results of the highest standard.

Project: Paragon

Darren Ellis

Senior Portfolio Manager

Naismiths has been a preferred monitoring surveyor for Downing funds investing in several large care home developments over the last couple of years and has provided a consistently high quality of service on new build and refurbishment projects alike, taking time to understand funding dynamics and adding value.

Project: Downing

John Pilbeam

Construction Director

Whilst the ability to pick up the phone and speak directly to the member of the team involved with the deal is highly beneficial, it is the breadth of knowledge and experience that makes Naismiths one of our top panel surveyors.

Project: BLG Development Finance

Anil Bains

Director - Asset Management

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