House Structural Inspection

Are you about to make an offer on a house?

Considering whether to include a structural inspection or not?

Then, this article may help you decide!

When making an offer on a house, a buyer mentions the price and terms. One of the terms may be a house inspection. The inspection is not mandatory but certainly recommended.

In this article, we'll explain what is technical inspection, why should you carry it out, and importantly, in which cases may a buyer withdraw his offer after carrying out an investigation.

What is a structural inspection?

An independent visual inspection of an existing house that a buyer could carry out before buying a house in the Netherlands. The investigation gives the buyer an overview of the house's condition, managed by a qualified inspector. The inspector follows a checklist that covers the house and checks the issues that were mentioned in the selling questionnaire (de vragenlijst).

Why carry out a structural inspection?

Whether it is an owner-occupied or rental property, a survey is essential for investigating issues that a buyer might miss at a regular home visit.

The importance of the structural inspection is huge. Once a buyer sets it as a resolutive condition, she may, withdraw her offer and even cancel the purchase agreement.

In which cases?
Scroll down!

Let's start with seeing step-by-step how does the investigation work.

Structural inspection in 6 steps

State any points that the structural engineer should pay extra attention to during the inspection.
The structural engineer visually inspects the house's structural condition, usually first inside, from top to bottom, and then outside.
In principle, the inspector does not check the community areas of a building.
The engineer does not drill or chop so that the current owner of the house is not damaged.
As part of the inspection, uses the inspector various aids and tools, such as:
- Moisture meter when there is a suspicion for moisture problems.
- Telescoping mirror to look at bottom of doors or the top of a dormer window.
- As far as the crawl space is concerned, the structural engineer assesses this space whenever possible.
After the survey, the engineer draws up an extensive report that contains the findings, the defects found, and the estimated repair costs.

Terms for withdrawing your offer

When a seller agrees to an offer, he also agrees to its terms. The inspection condition states that the survey should find no immediate or necessary facilities or maintenance costs that are higher than an agreed amount. In case the inspection report reckons that repairing the damages costs more than the agreed price, then the buyer is allowed to cancel the agreement if he wishes to.

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