The Housing Association ventilation scam
This year I have carried out various training for Housing Associations, some of which is for past building surveyors who have now moved on to other Housing Associations. I have also been involved in around £400,000.00 of wrongly diagnosed damp issues, that have subsequently failed after repairs have been carried out.
During these days we have stripped it back to cover the absolute basics in the diagnosis of damp issues.
Now it can be very difficult for Housing Associations to get the right balance when it comes to the surveyor they use for the surveys, and the ideal contractor to carry out the repairs necessary.
I was given sample reports from various Companies, and was really surprised how poor the reports were, and that this was actually accepted.
In my opinion and from the discussions we had the surveyors are under pressure to carry out their own survey, and then get the “specialist survey” and works carried out. They often feel under pressure because they don’t have the specialist equipment to carry out the surveys, and also don’t have the time to carry out a detailed survey along with opening up and reinstating. This type of survey can typically take around 2 hours, and then produce a report.
First off most of the Councils and Housing Associations are under pressure because of the amount of free dis-repair no win no claim fees now, this is basically ambulance chasing Solicitors. The Housing association rely on a surveyor to help them diagnose the issue and fix the issue.
The recent ones where I was called in to offer advice after a survey, it was pretty shocking to be fair.
The bungalow had visible damp, mould and condensation issues.
The specialist surveyor that called in was a sales ventilation engineer. The survey report wasn’t a report at all, it is basically described the visible internal mould issues, no moisture meter readings were taken of the walls, I understand that externally the building wasn’t surveyed, there was also no mention of the outside defects.
The trickle vents were blocked with cob webs, and the there was no undercut beneath the internal doors – this basic observation will have a dramatic affect on the ventilation. It is well documented in Approved Document F, that background ventilation is needed, and also air transfer.
No measurements were taken of the ventilation, however it was claimed that the fans are not suitable for Social Housing, I’m not sure what is meant by this.
Roof insulation levels were mentioned, however it was very clear that the roof wasn’t entered as they would have seen the missing insulation at eaves level. In the report the roof was supposed to be well ventilated, however the retrofit air vents were actually not cut through the roofing felt correctly – so they weren’t ventilating the roof at all.
In the report it was mentioned that gas central heating was present, when the radiators where checked with thermal imaging it was clear there were issues and the system needed bleeding or flushing. Radiators were also on internal walls fitted back to back in the bungalows, typically to save money.
The property had cavity wall insulation installed, now it is necessary to see if this is damp and also to see if there is debris in the cavity. Some of the properties had issues with insulation and bridging debris in the cavity, and this has to be eliminated before coming to an opinion regarding the damp issue.
The quote then explained that the mechanical extract fans in the kitchen and bathroom need to be replaced with a trickle type fan, along with a heated loft mounted positive input ventilation system.
Approved document F, states ventilation airflow rates for different sized building and also the occupancy level. The reports that I seen and the properties I looked at were small in size, typically flats and bungalows.
I don’t understand why anybody would install two mechanical constant trickle extraction fans and a positive input ventilation system. There was no mention of the loft hatch being poorly fitted with no insulation and also no mention of making this into a tight seal. It is well documented in that if spotlights and loft hatches aren’t well sealed there is the potential for vapour to migrate into the loft and then essentially the piv will recirculate some moisture laden air back into the property.
I have monitored many properties with data loggers throughout the whole building, prior to mechanical ventilation installs, during and after, every property has never needed a positive input ventilation fan. These are being charged out at ridiculous sums; we carried out some data logging with the piv switched off showing that this wasn’t needed, the Housing Association then started to calculate how much they have overspent on piv installations…..thousands!
Could the Housing Association rely on this report? The simple answer is no.
Could they send this on to a dispute Solicitor and expect this to be accepted as a survey? No
Could they expect this to fix the issue, so the tenant had no further damp issues? No because many of the properties needed more than just extraction fans. A free survey that involves someone trying to flog some ventilation will be just that.
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