Understand a building problem before deciding what to do next

Start with something you can see, a phrase in a survey report, or the type of property you are dealing with. The library presents the available reviewed evidence and proportionate next steps without pretending to diagnose a property online.

General guidance from Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy, an RICS regulated firm. Technical content is reviewed under Savas Bulduk BSc (Hons) MRICS, Director & Chartered Building Surveyor.

What brings you here?

I have noticed something
Start with a crack, stain, smell, leak, mould patch or other visible sign.
I need to understand a term
Search survey language, common names and everyday descriptions.
I know the defect name
Browse reviewed explanations and the evidence available for each term.
I want to understand my building type
Read the available construction and age context for selected property types.
I have received a survey
Work through further investigations and common pre-exchange decisions.
I want a guided starting point
Choose a focused question, then follow the most relevant topics.
I am choosing Level 2 or Level 3
Use the indicative chooser, then confirm the scope before instruction.

How the library approaches a problem

Observe: record what you can see, where it is and when it changes.
Compare: consider more than one possible cause and the building context.
Escalate safely: act on red flags without carrying out unsafe or destructive checks.
Investigate: choose the survey or specialist input that can answer the remaining question.

Need an opinion about a real property?

Online guidance cannot confirm a diagnosis. Tell the surveying team what you have noticed, the property type and any deadline, and they will help define a proportionate scope.

Ask about a building defect

Ask a surveyor

Not sure what this means for your property? Speak with a Chartered Surveyor atHampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy.

General library guidance is not a survey of your building. A short conversation helps confirm the proportionate next step.

Request advice Book inspection Discuss survey findings

From Survey Findings to Remedial Design, Tendering & Execution

Once our RICS chartered building surveyors have diagnosed the root cause of a defect through a Specific Defect & Building Pathology Investigation or RICS Home Survey, you can either instruct Hampstead Chartered Surveyors independently for JCT Contract Administration to tender the works to external contractors, or elect our joined-up group design-and-build route alongside our sister practices:

Hampstead Architecture & Planning: Architectural drawings, conservation-area and listed-building consents, structural engineering coordination, and Building Regulations packages translated directly from the survey diagnostics.
Hampstead Renovations: Principal contractor remedial execution, heritage masonry and roofing repairs, damp and timber remediation, and full residential refurbishments backed by £5M public liability, £10M employers' liability and contractors' all risks cover alongside Hampstead Chartered Surveyors' RICS-regulated Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII).

RICS Impartiality Note: Where Hampstead Chartered Surveyors acts as independent JCT Contract Administrator or Party Wall Surveyor, works are tendered strictly to independent third-party contractors in accordance with RICS conflict-of-interest governance.

Request a Specific Defect Inspection or Post-Survey Fee Quote

All fees are quoted transparently plus VAT (Specific Defect & Building Pathology inspections from £595 plus VAT).

Complete Building Defects, Symptoms & Post-Survey Reference Index

Browse every diagnostic defect guide, symptom pathway, property-type guide, and post-survey next-steps resource in the Hampstead Chartered Surveyors Building Defects Library: