Full Boat Condition Reports Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, Greater London
Do you require a boat condition report in Surrey and the surrounding areas? We offer boat condition reports for yachts, narrow boats and other water craft throughout Greater London, Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Kent and Sussex.
What kind of boat needs a Condition Report?
Some believe that boat condition reports are only required as pre-purchase surveys for expensive boats purchased privately, whether new boats, second-hand boats or previously sold boats. However, owning any boat of any size and any age can be helped by having a full condition report carried out.
There are no minimum or maximum requirements for boat condition surveys. The way to boat building industry works, there are bound to be imperfections even in new boats. Additionally, many new boats are often carted from showroom to showroom waiting for a sale, while many second-hand boats spend months moored in marinas or waterways rotting.
Therefore, condition reports are vital for potential buyers to know what they're getting themselves into and keep their boat safe and their investment safe. While the boat owner may offer you a condition report to view before the purchase, this is useless to you.
Old surveys and condition reports tell you nothing of damage or wear since it was commissioned. You also don't know how the previous owner used and cared for the boat, with no idea what state its internal propulsion equipment or boat safety systems are in, such as the fire extinguishers.
Additionally, while good surveyors are covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance and Public Liability insurance, if you didn't commission a professional report yourself, you cannot claim against this insurance if something goes wrong.
What's Covered in this Survey?
A good place to start is with the question: what does a condition survey involve? Any comprehensive boat survey and report should detail the vessel's condition with all its good and bad points covered.
This includes all the major elements of the boat, from the hull to the propulsion system and mechanical gear and equipment.
Hauling the boat onto a dry slipway is the easiest way, as the entire hull is easily visible.
Your surveyor will check for cracks and damage before checking your engine, control systems, deck hardware, navigation and communication systems and safety equipment.
Boat condition surveys don't usually involve sea trials, but it is worth taking your chosen boat out for a spin while the surveyor is around.
This is the best way to check that the boat is functioning practically. While comprehensive condition surveys can be expensive, they are well worth the price, given they can save you a heap of trouble and costs in the future.
Cetec Marine Ltd understands how time-sensitive the boat buying process can be, and we work to accommodate our clients on short notice. Once we have inspected the boat you are planning to purchase; we can complete a full written report for you within three working days. All our boat condition reports are written to be understood, so you don't need to worry about missing anything crucial.
We aim to provide peace of mind with all our detailed reports.
Our detailed reports contain a summary of the entire condition of the boat, alongside recommendations for repairs and other scheduled maintenance tasks.
We can also provide expert valuations about the possible selling price and minimum value of the boat in a finance survey to help you negotiate with the seller or conduct an insurance survey for your insurance company.
These factors will be prioritised, with the most urgent issues and recommendations listed first.
These include immediate problems and those yet to develop, but the early warning signs are visible. Professional maintenance schedules are a vital part of responsible boat management.
What are the guarantees and limitations?
It's important to remember that condition reports are not created to help you make a buying decision; they are simply a detailed report on the current state of the boat. Using ultrasound equipment and moister meters, our surveyors can inspect all aspects of the boat without damaging it.
Our surveyors can access critical components with the seller's help wherever they are. The seller is practically encouraged to allow our surveyors to inspect the boat; if there is little damage or wear to find, they can be assured of a good market price.
However, boat condition surveys cannot take everything into account, and there may be elements of the boat that our surveyors cannot access. Whenever this occurs, our written reports will say so.
Our reports may also suggest areas of the boat that require greater inspection by another professional, such as having a professional engineer look over the boat's engine and create an engineer's report. Ultimately, the decision to purchase the boat lies with the buyer.
We cannot suggest whether to make a purchase or not. We can only provide an objective appraisal of the vessel's current condition.
Why you shouldn't rely on an existing survey
Again, you should not rely on a survey of a boat that has been conducted before you thought about making a purchase.
Surveys only assess a boat's condition on the day the survey was carried out.
You never know; since the last survey was carried out, the boat may have had a rough grounding or suffered some other damage that the previous report has no details about.
Additionally, given that all professional surveyors, such as those here at Cetec Marine Ltd, are covered by professional indemnity insurance.
Therefore, if you rely on a report conducted by a surveyor not of your choosing, and you find a fault with the boat that the previous inspection missed, you cannot claim on this insurance.
Hiring your own surveyor to conduct a pre-purchase boat inspection to provide you with your own condition report is the best way to protect yourself.
Survey recommendations
Every survey we complete will come with professional recommendations about which areas of the boat require attention or are likely to need attention in the near future.There are typically three categories that these potential issues can fall into:
Immediate Worries
Evidence of severe malfunctions or damage that needs to be remedied before the boat is next taken out will fall into this category. This can be anything from structural damage to the need for major rebuilding, broken guardrails or unsafe stanchions.
Scheduled Maintenance
After the immediate concerns comes the category of issues that you can remedy later, alongside creating a regular maintenance schedule and boat safety scheme for you to follow to keep these issues at bay. This can include cosmetic damage, and the recommended repairs can be conducted at the end of the sailing season so the boat is ready for the subsequent year.
Problems Down The Line
Our surveyors may discover issues that have not begun to show themselves properly during the boat inspection, but the early signs are there. These issues fall into the final category of problems that you need to keep your eye on but do not require immediate attention.
How to choose a full condition surveyor
When choosing the right surveyor to carry out a full condition survey, there are a few things you need to be sure of.
Firstly, you need to select a surveyor who has experience inspecting similar vessels in terms of the size, style and construction of the boat you are looking to purchase. Asking to see a previous report will also tell you whether you will understand the information they will ultimately provide.
It is also helpful to check whether your chosen surveyor is a member of a professional association, such as the Yacht Designers and Surveyors Association in the UK. These associations dictate specific standards and demand certain qualifications from their members, so you can ensure a high-quality survey when you choose them.
These organisations maintain lists of the locations of their members, so they are easy to find. If the boat you are thinking of purchasing is in a foreign country, it is best to select a UK based surveyor to avoid any language barriers or lack of understanding in the report.
Additionally, you will have better mediation prospects if anything were to go wrong or you need to claim against the surveyor's professional indemnity insurance.
What are the limitations of boat surveys?
Again, no surveyor can inspect every tiny aspect of a boat, meaning there will be some limitations in the boat survey report you receive. The surveyor will explain these limitations in the report itself for your benefit. Anything that is not easily visible from the exterior or interior of the boat may not be liable for inspection.
Sole boards that are not screwed down can be lifted to inspect bilge areas while headlining panels cannot typically be removed. This is why we recommend having the boat's previous owner with you when you conduct a pre-purchase boat inspection. Owners can help your chosen surveyor access all the areas of the boat they need to in order to create a comprehensive survey report.
The surveyor won't climb aloft to check the masts and rigging for sailing yachts and boats but will visually inspect them from the deck.
They will also conduct a brief external inspection of through-hull fittings and exterior features.
Alternately, the surveyor will visually inspect the engine, electrical equipment, and other machinery in motorboats.
If there are elements of the boat that the surveyor cannot gain physical access and inspect, they will suggest other professionals you may ask to come and take a look, such as engineers or electricians.
Riggers can inspect your rigging and deck gear, while engineers can conduct oil analysis for a well-treated engine.
All of these can give you a more detailed idea of the condition of the boat.
Professional marine surveyors mostly use non-destructive testing methods, such as ultrasound meters when assessing the quality of steel hulls and moisture meters for other composite material hulls. Previously, core samples would need to be drilled out of the hull to test its condition, but this is not necessary today.
However, these tests are just as crucial as ever when assessing the condition of a vessel.
If you require a boat condition report in Surrey or the surrounding areas get in contact today. Call 01784 464 899 for boat condition reports in Surrey, Greater London, Berkshire, Sussex, Kent and Hampshire.
Cetec Marine Ltd
7 Malet Close
Egham
Surrey
TW20 8ED