Survey Issues

Wondering what recourse there is for a surveyor missing a BIG issue.
We had a survey done by the "toughest" surveyor in the area prior to listing our boat for sale. After all, who wants surprises? He seemingly did a great job picking it apart. We were pleased with his work as it identified some areas we could correct, big bank for little buck kind of stuff. Survey cost was about $1,000.

Fast forward, buyer under contract, (10 months later), buyer's surveyor identified an issue that should have been caught by ours. It sunk the deal and literally, we may just scrap the boat. The fix will be too much compared to its value.

The issue was there when our surveyor did his work, as evidenced by the issue. The issue that was found does not happen in a few months. I am just wondering if there is any recourse now at least to get our money back for the work that he did not do.

Respectfully,
Rhonda

Greetings,
Ms. R. Sorry to hear of your grief. MY observation is there is an "escape" clause in every survey report that clears the surveyor of any errors or omissions. Sort of an "Oops I didn't see that. You're on your own" type of deal.

We had a survey done on our "new" boat and while I don't doubt the boat was well serviced (oil changes etc.) I don't think it was well maintained (tightening fittings/lubricating latches/fixing leaks etc.). So far the "toughest" surveyor we could find has cost us about $9K due to stuff he missed. A couple of outright blatant faults, as well. This is on a $130K 27' basic boat.

That being said, he WAS fairly thorough. I very much doubt there is any recourse. We're fixing things and moving on.

I suspect that even if you could prevail that you could only collect for damages caused by the survey. Your true damages would be money spent on preparing the boat for sale. All other damages were already there and not caused by the survey.

Another way to look at this, you will be spending probably $10,000 out of your pocket to fight with the surveyor’s insurance company on a case where you can probably only win $1,000. You will also need to prove the boat is not worth fixing. Not worth fixing in your eyes may be different than the court’s eyes.

You didn’t mention what was found, not to mention we are working with opinions. So at this point who’s to say which opinion is correct?

I would start with a discussion with the original surveyor. Best case I think you ask for refund of the fee. Otherwise if they cannot explain how the problem was not noted then you have little recourse other than posting a factual review as a precaution for others. But tread carefully as that could expose you to some risk.

First and foremost what was missed? I ask because a single item causing a boat to be scrapped is either a really inexpensive boat or a gigantic problem with the boat.

Also remember that many things on a boat are somewhat subjective, and might be re-analyzed with different results.

So... Please tell more of the story.

I am with tiltrider1 on this one... without knowing what was found/missed tough to say who, what, where, why....etc...etc....

Plus, almost anything can be fixed to save the boat... my last boat needed more repairs than it was worth (luckily I did them for cents on the dollar vs paid repair)... the surveyor was highly recommended and missed or glossed over most of them in my opinion...but others would have said "to be expected on an older boat at that price"...except for the severe hull hydrolysis.

For Negligence to be actionable there needs to be loss or damage. Your loss as observed above is minimal. Had the survey been performed for a buyer it would have been very different. Apparently the fault he didn`t find means the boat was valueless even before survey, except I guess for used spare parts after dismantling

Like some of the others said, this post is meaningless without the details. Sometimes the condition of the survey environment prevents finding problems. For example finding moisture in coring on a rainy day, or on a dew covered deck in the morning, or finding leaks on a dry day. Sometimes a cored hull side can't be percussion sounded because the yard doesn't have a ladder available and the keel depth/height of hull sides prevent reaching the top of the hull side. Sometimes a smaller surveyor is willing to crawl into a tight spot that a bigger guy can't physically get to. If the boat has to be pressure washed and the hull sides are soaked with spray then a moisture meter can't be used on a short haul inspection. Maybe one surveyor is just percussion sounding but another is a thermography expert. Maybe one surveyor thinks a stringer is sound and doesn't condemn it just because there is moisture in the coring, but another thinks moisture in the stringer should condemn it.
I can tell you every surveyor, even the best and most experienced, miss something on every survey and most will tell you that. Every surveyor comes into the profession with a different background and a different set of experiences that dictate the things they focus on.

While I too am very curious of the underlying facts, truth is it doesn't matter (though if you decide to disclose it, I'd be curious how you - the owner - missed it too). Unless your surveyor was drunk or somehow grossly negligent, you paid for a service and a report that you received. It's one persons opinion at a specific point in time.

Best success in whatever the future holds for you.

Peter

As mentioned, the survey didn't change the fact that the boat may need to be scrapped, so you aren't really out any money as far as the sale. From a fee standpoint, if he had told you the boat had this issue that may not be worth fixing, you would still owe him the fee for his survey.

I would call and ask for your fee back. If he says no, then you can decide whether to ding his reputation based on a fatal flaw that he missed.

There are several different levels of survey that are done. For $1,000, your probably going to get a simpler insurance survey as opposed to an in depth structural purchase survey.

Sorry for the unfortunate situation you find yourself in.

Ted

Totally agree that before anyone can give advice here, more of the facts need to be revealed. I for one am really curious what "missed" item could render the boat (type, age, constuction and value unknown) worthless.

I'll join the rest in saying there's not much you can do. I have had 4 surveys done on personal purchases. And 4 for my employer. All of the surveyors missed things. Some missed big things. Some were as yours things that should have been obvious to a good surveyor.

I did take one surveyor to court. Not because he missed things or was incompetent. But because he was a liar which he proved before the court. I had to prove that he lied, and that I suffered serious financial harm due to his lies. I didn't get enough back to make the exercise worth it.

You are in an unfortunate position. The best you can do is decide your best course of action regarding the boat in it's present condition and move on.