Cases - Cross v David Martin & Mortimer

Record details

Name

Cross v David Martin & Mortimer

Date

[1989]

Citation

1 EGLR 154

Keywords

Negligence in valuations and surveys

Summary

The defendants were held to have been negligent in their carrying out of a House Buyers Report and Valuation for the claimant purchasers. The surveyor should have considered the possibility of floor slab subsidence, in view of the fact that the house was built on clay and on a slope and that there were poplar trees nearby. Had he considered this possibility and thus inspected more carefully, the surveyor would have discovered the presence of a large hump in the hall, noticeable to both the eye and the tread, which would have provided further evidence of the subsidence.

In the course of giving judgment, the judge made it clear that, while the inspection required for such work may be more limited in scope than that for a full building survey, a surveyor who is instructed to carry out such an inspection will be expected to show exactly the same level of expertise.