Building condition survey

At Incommunities, the quality of your home and the safety and well-being of everyone living in your home are our top priorities. 

That’s why we’ve asked a surveying company called Rapleys to carry out a survey on all the homes that we provide, including yours. 

The survey will allow us to plan for major maintenance work that may be needed to make sure your home is a warm, safe place to live. This includes major replacements for things like roofs, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, heating systems, etc. 

 

We know that letting people into your home is a big deal, so we have put together some frequently asked questions, to help explain why the survey is so important and what will happen before, during, and after the survey. 

Why are Rapleys doing the surveys and energy performance reviews rather than Incommunities?

  • Rapleys is a specialist surveying company. They have the large number of surveyors needed to get around all of the homes that we provide.
     
  • They carry out lots of surveys like this for other housing providers across the UK, so they know exactly what to look for and will do the surveys as efficiently as possible.

What is an energy performance review?

  • The energy performance review allows us to create an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your home. 
     
  • The EPC gives us information about your home’s energy use and typical energy costs. 
     
  • It helps us to understand the steps we need to take to improve the property’s energy efficiency, and hopefully save you money. 

What will the survey involve?

  • A surveyor will visit your home and record the condition of the building on a handheld electronic device. 
     
  • The survey will take up to 45 minutes to complete. 
     
  • Access will be required to all rooms, including the loft and all external areas. 
     
  • Your carpets will not be lifted and your furniture will not need to be moved. 
     
  • For our records, photos will be taken, but no photos will be taken of any person. It can be difficult to avoid taking photos of personal belongings, but let the surveyor know when they arrive if there’s anything that you don’t want them to photograph. 

How do I know that the person calling to my house is from Rapleys?

  • The Rapleys surveyors will be carrying an ID badge with a photo and a letter from us at Incommunities – this is called a Letter of Authority.
     
  • The photo ID will look like this 

Rapleys and Incommunities Survey Badge Example

 

  • The Rapleys logo looks like this

Rapleys Logo

  • Do not let anyone into your home to do this survey if they don’t have the Rapleys ID badge and the Letter of Authority. 

 

Why are you doing the survey?

  • To improve the information that we hold about the homes we provide.  
     
  • To help us plan and prioritise future repairs and improvement works, for example, new bathrooms and kitchens. 
     
  • The survey is about the big work; it doesn’t cover minor repairs, so you will need to report repairs in the usual way. Don’t wait for the survey. 

What happens before the survey?

  • Rapleys will write to you to let you know when they’ll be in your area doing surveys. 
     
  • You don’t need to take time off work for the survey. 
     
  • If you’re not at home when the surveyor calls, they will drop a calling card through your door with their contact details so you can make an appointment on a date and time that suits you. 
     
  • Keep to the any agreed appointments and contact you if we need to rearrange, giving as much notice as possible. 
     
  • Rapleys will attempt access to your home up to a maximum of three separate times. But remember, you’re welcome to call or email Rapleys to arrange a specific appointment.  

What do I have to do?

  • Nothing really, once you receive your letter from Rapleys, you will know when the surveyor will be in your area. You can either wait for them to call at your home, or you can contact Rapleys and book a time for the survey that suits you. 
     
  • Allow access when the surveyor visits. 
     
  • Give at least 48 hours’ notice if you wish to rearrange a survey appointment. 
     
  • Allow the surveyor to do the survey without disruption; this will reduce the time required at your home. 

Will the surveyor tell me the results of the survey? 

  • The surveyor won’t be able to provide feedback on if or when you are likely to receive a new kitchen, bathroom or any other work. 
     
  • Due to the volume of surveys, we won’t be providing you with feedback after the survey, but we will let you know if any improvement work is required to your home as part of our future programmes. 

Rapleys can be contacted directly using the following options:

Phone 01480 371463 option 5

Email surveys@rapleys.com