Start with what the building is actually showing.
SPECIALIST / EVIDENCE FILE / MBC
Building defects investigation
Sometimes you do not need a whole-building survey — you need to know why one specific thing is going wrong. Water coming in around a chimney. A crack that keeps reopening. A floor that has started to slope. A ceiling stain nobody can explain.
01 / SYMPTOM → EVIDENCE
When to commission a defects investigation
Defects investigation is diagnosis, not description. The aim is to establish the cause of the problem — because until the cause is known, any repair is guesswork. Reports set out the evidence, the diagnosis, and clear recommendations you can act on or hand to a contractor.
The approach draws on an unusual breadth of experience: years running contracting operations (seeing how buildings are actually put together and where they go wrong), field surveying, and complex insurance claims work across fire, flood, escape of water and structural losses.
- 01
A specific defect needs diagnosing — cracking, damp ingress, movement, roof leaks, condensation problems
- 02
Repairs have been attempted before and the problem keeps returning
- 03
A contractor has quoted for work and you want the cause confirmed before spending
- 04
A survey has flagged an issue and recommended further investigation
- 05
A dispute needs an independent technical view of what has gone wrong
What you get
- E01
Focused inspection of the defect and the building elements around it
- E02
Cause-focused analysis rather than symptom description
- E03
Moisture readings, thermal imaging, photographic evidence and measurements as appropriate to the defect and site conditions
- E04
Agreed limited opening-up where the answer is concealed — including creating a small access hatch where necessary and authorised by the owner
- E05
A written report with a clear diagnosis and prioritised recommendations
- E06
A repair scope you can put to contractors for comparable quotes
02 / METHOD
How it works
A traceable line from symptom to evidence, cause and next action.- 01
EVIDENCE GATE / 1
Describe the problem
The more history you can give — when it started, what has been tried, photos over time — the sharper the investigation.
- 02
EVIDENCE GATE / 2
Inspection
A targeted inspection of the defect, tracing the evidence back to its source rather than stopping at the visible symptom.
- 03
EVIDENCE GATE / 3
Report
A plain-language written report: what is happening, why, what to do about it, and in what order.
03 / BEFORE YOU INSTRUCT
Questions worth answering first.
Scope, access, limitations and what happens after the inspection—explained before they become surprises.
How is this different from a Level 3 survey?
Scope. A Level 3 survey reviews the whole property; a defects investigation goes deep on one problem (or a small set of related problems). It is often quicker and more cost-effective when the question is specific.
Will the report tell a contractor what to do?
It gives a diagnosis and a recommended scope of repair in enough detail for contractors to price against. For larger remediation projects, a fuller specification can be produced through the building consultancy service.
Can you investigate defects in a property I don’t own yet?
Yes, with the owner’s permission for access. This is common where a purchase survey has flagged something and you want it understood before exchange.
Do you do invasive investigation?
Where visual evidence is not conclusive, limited opening up can be agreed with the owner in advance. The report will always distinguish between what was observed and what is inferred.
NEW INSTRUCTION / Defects investigation
Turn the symptom into evidence.
Send the property address and the situation for a fixed quote and an honest recommendation.
Request a quote