The Surveyor’s Corner by Tim Hollingsworth Tim Hollingsworth, managing director of leading surveying and estate agency firm Rumball Sedgwick offers his clients some seasonal advice.

It Shouldn’t Happen To A Surveyor!

On the first day of Christmas, my client said to me: “I’m doing the laundry.” On the second day of Christmas, my client said to me: “I’ve got to take my son to football.”

On the third day of Christmas.....well, you get the picture. When it comes to excuses from clients as to why I can’t carry out my survey of their property at the agreed time, believe me, I have heard them all.

Now far be it from me to be unkind about my clients, especially during the season of goodwill, but one of the many things we pride ourselves on in the Rumball Sedgwick surveying department is our time-keeping. Of course, since surveyors are human too, we occasionally over-run on an earlier appointment, or get caught in traffic, but most of the time, we arrive on time and accept that we will be greeted by a disgruntled client if not.

But what about the times we arrive early, only to be kept waiting on the doorstep in the rain, simply because the client hasn’t finished the ironing, or as was the case with one recent client, watching the last few minutes of Loose Women?

Or the client who made me sidestep several cow pats on the field in front of their house (in my office shoes), only for me to get inside and find myself negotiating piles of dirty clothes and empty boxes before I could even begin my inspection. Trying to spot the holes in the floor or the damp patches on the walls when you can’t even see the surfaces in question simply adds to the surveyor’s time – and eats into his next appointment.

Of course we surveyors understand that our clients lead busy lives, but asking us to carry out a survey at 7pm in the middle of winter, just because it fits in with your TV viewing, just isn’t appropriate. If we are going to do our work thoroughly and professionally for you, we need to be able to see the leaky roof or the subsidence, not just imagine it!

After all, if Santa asked you to be in at a certain time so that he could deliver that new flat screen TV you’ve been longing for, you’d make sure you were in, wouldn’t you?

So please, if you are commissioning a survey or an inspection of a property over the holidays, give a thought to your surveyor and stick to your appointment time. That really would make our Christmas.

Rumball Sedgwick has offices in Watford and St Albans. If you need a survey, valuation or property inspection, please contact Tim Hollingsworth on 01923 200096 or tim@rumballsedgwick.co.uk