A Certificate of Structural Adequacy is a one-page statement which summarises the SERL report. It will indicate whether the inspected structure is satisfactory or whether remedial works are required and what those works are, in general terms.
SERL can offer a Certificate along with our Structural Engineers Reports where appropriate at an additional cost of £1,000 + VAT. However, this type of Certificate needs clarification as some Surveyors and lending Institutions have begun to request them without necessarily understanding their limitations.
The Certificate does not provide an indemnity or Insurance for an old building and nor does it certify the work of a builder who might have recently carried out repairs, which were not specified or supervised by SERL.
In short, the Certificate of Structural Adequacy is merely a more concise summary of the Structural Engineers report, which is always prepared for each property inspected and which you may rely upon, as you would the advice of your Solicitor or other professional person. Our reports are backed by SERL’s professional Indemnity Insurance.
Do note that most of our reports only inspect and report on part of a property, often just one wall or a single crack and so there will be obvious limitations to our advice. Any mention of a Certificate of Structural Adequacy could infer much greater responsibility than is intended.
Certificates of Structural Adequacy were intended to follow insurance claims by owners, where more time was given to Investigate a potential subsidence case with tests being over a period of time for instance. In contrast, a pre-purchase survey is merely a snapshot in time and offers a brief inspection of a vendor’s property. It does not offer the opportunity to monitor or excavate or and investigate a defect over time.
The Certificate of Structural Adequacy was a term first introduced by the buildings insurance and Subsidence repair industry in 1994, following the publication of the Institution of Structural Engineers report entitled ‘Subsidence of Low-Rise Buildings’. Its intention was to simply summarise the advice provided following lengthy subsidence investigations such as soil testing crack monitoring, and drain tests, and the eventual design, specification of an underpinning scheme or specialist structural repairs.
The recent 2023 guide titled ‘Subsidence, also published by the Institution of Structural Engineers states “The expert chosen to carry out the INVESTIGATION should decide what remedial works if any are required. If no major works are necessary, a Certificate of Structural Adequacy can be issued by the expert at this stage”. Subsequent text then explains the design, specification, and supervision in instances where the investigation has resulted in remedial works of some sort.
The IStructE guide states “Such a Certificate would not be a Warranty or Guarantee but it would be a considered professional opinion by an Expert”.