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Groundwork & Foundations

the property i want to buy has sulphate damage

Anonymous user 03/03/2024 - 2.36 PM

No insurance company will look at me as I cant get the sellors to do this before exchange of contracts, it is a repossession property. Also the structural engineer assures me that if the work is done properely that there will be no further problems. Also, if a company does insure me it will stay on their records for 10 years and possibly put off potential buyers in the future. I could just not mention this when i get the buiding insurance, but do they have access to reports I have had with this property. I understand that if something does go wrong that is linked to this the insurance with be invalid, however, the structural engineer states that if this sorted properely then there will be not further problems in that area. What is ur advice Dont particularly want to do this in an underhand way, but seeing as the problem will be rectifyd a few days after i get the keys, i dont see why I should have this down on my policy for the next 10 years, which may affect my resale (about 5 years time). I have had a structural report, do buildings insurance have access to these without my permission?

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1 Answer

Anonymous user

Background to the guidance Sulfate-bearing hardcore, derived from colliery spoil and other industrial by-products,was included in the construction of hundred of thousands of domestic properties in the period 1945 – 1970 as support for concrete floor slabs. The legacy has been a continuing occurrence of damage to floor slabs and abutting walls as sulfate from the hardcore has attacked the overlying concrete. Remediation of such damage is rarely covered by household insurance, as the cause is deemed to be a latent construction defect. Thus, in most cases, owner-occupiers have had to pay (typically £10-20k) out of their own pockets for repair. The situation has promoted a blight of numerous housing estates where cases have occurred, since prospective buyers and professionals concerned with house purchase and mortgages have naturally been very cautious when dealing with properties that may have sulfate attack. In some cases the only way to remove such blight has been the expenditure of government funds to remediate properties en masse. The overall aim of this project is to provide authoritative guidance to local authorities, professionals and homeowners who are concerned with damage to houses and other dwellings caused by sulfate attack to floor slabs resulting from past use of sulfate-bearing hardcore. Preparation of this document has required discussions with numerous professionals who are stakeholders in problems arising from sulfate-bearing hardcore. Their views have been diverse and sometimes times conflicting, typically reflecting differences in practice according to regional location. As a consequence, to be nationally acceptable, the guidance necessarily includes several options for procedures for investigation, assessment and remedial measures. As clearly stated, in the introduction to this document, it remains the responsibility of the professionals involved with a particular property to decide which of the options to utilise. Their actions will rightly be based on local experience and housing market constraints. Each dwelling will need to be considered on its own merits.

Answered13 July 2011