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Showing results for tags 'pre-purchase survey'.
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When we were about to buy our pair from brokerage at Aqueduct Marina it was our first time buying a boat. We didn't know any surveyors and so Aqueduct said they knew a good surveyor, so they booked John Compton of Small Boat Surveys. We paid for a hull only survey on the butty and once we'd established that the motor's hull was sound (except for two small areas on the bow that needed over-plating) we told John to go ahead with the full survey. He said that it was OK but said he couldn't test the gas system, even though it had a bubble-tester, he also said that, while all the electrics worked, they were 'dated' our insurance then refused to cover us for claims involving gas or electrics. As the boats were on hard standing and Freyja is raw water cooled he said he couldn't start or check the engine. When he finished the survey we received was in the name of Nick Beech of Aqueduct Marina, even though it was us, not Aqueduct, who paid for it. While preparing to clean and paint the bilge, I found :- The bottoms of the deckdrain pipes had rusted away where they went through the swim, and that they were letting in water The weedhatch lid hold down brackets had rusted away leaving only a small fragment holding the lid on. The diesel tank had rusted through behind the weedhatch and was leaking diesel The gas locker drain (which was right down near the water level) had been letting in water in the past, causing the floor to rust through and, more seriously, the bulkhead had rusted so badly that water could have sunk us or a gas leak would have come straight into the accommodation, risking a very loud and disastrous bang! Why haven't I brought up these concerns with the surveyor or the marina? I hear you ask.I have, I sent copies of photographic evidence and of remedial work undertaken to both parties by e-mail. I received only a confirmation of receipt from Small Boat Surveys and no response from Aqueduct. I have looked to see if John Compton is a member of a professional body but if he is, it's not shown on his website. So do the panel think it is normal for the survey to made out in Nick's name? Given that the terms & conditions state that 'Only the person named on the survey has any redress' Shouldn't he have been able to check our gas with our bubble-tester, even if he isn't gas-safe? A pre-purchase survey is not cheap, given that we'd paid so much, shouldn't we have been able to buy safe boats, free from all these dangerous faults? We are now wondering if there are any other disasters that he missed. So as both parties have chosen not to respond I now feel free to name and shame. I wouldn't want other first-timers to be hung out to dry as we have been.
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- pre-purchase survey
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Hi all - I’ve never contributed to a discussion here but I’ve always found this forum really informative. Apologies if the question below appears in another thread, but I couldn’t find it anywhere! Any help would be much appreciated! We’re looking at buying a Springer stern cruiser, but are concerned about the quality of the steel. We’ve put in a deposit but want to have a survey before completing the buy. We’re concerned that if we lift it out of the water for a survey it won’t survive (ie it might be so thin already it gets damaged while taking it out). so the question: if the boat is damaged while taking it out of the water, who is liable to pay? Us, the current owners, or the surveyors?