CARDOE MARTIN’S
A-Z OF BUILDING SURVEYING PODCAST
WHAT MAKES A GOOD SURVEYOR WITH GRAHAM CARDOE
Host: Welcome to the Cardoe Martin Podcast this is the A-Z of Building Surveying giving you the lowdown on surveying and today in this episode we are going to have a chat with Graham Cardoe the Chairman of Cardoe Martin and well, welcome Graham how are you?
GC: Thank you, it’s good to be here.
Host: Yeah excellent, it is nice to have you and thanks for agreeing to come on. So first things first, a bit of a warm up we are doing to do a quick fire round and so Graham’s not been privy to the questions in advance so Graham if you get stuck just skip, pretend we’re on a gameshow.
GC: Okay.
Host: You have got about a minute or so to go on this one so, top five favourite things about building surveying?
GC: Variety I think is the most important one, all buildings are different, clients and their locations of buildings are different, it’s not an office job you get the opportunity to get out and about and not be in the office for probably more than 50% of any week. Building surveying gives the opportunity to start and develop a business and there’s always demand for building surveying services after human needs of food and drink, shelter is the next one and buildings are required to live in, work in, to be educated in and cover all aspects of life so there is always demand for a building surveyor’s expertise.
Host: The No. 1 thing you know now that would have been useful when you started out? You can think about it and press the buzzer when you’re ready.
GC: Well obviously when you start a business it is a learning curve and it would be helpful to have some of that knowledge in advance, I suppose one of the key things I’d like to know is that I’m going to get paid in any job that I do for a client.
Host: That makes sense. No. 1 thing you get asked all the time by clients and customers?
GC: Is it going to fall down.
Host: Very good question.
Host: Which it never is going to fall down it’s always somewhere in between, but they always want an answer to that question, I don’t know why but they obviously feel concerned that complete collapse is the most likely option with a building but there’s always a solution to any building’s problems or most building’s problems and demolition would be the very last resort.
Host: I think people have a self-preservation instinct do not they, that’s driving that one.
GC: I’m sure that’s right.
Host: Okay, toughest one only actually so question, so favourite music track, album, radio channel to listen to when either doing a survey or writing a report and what’s special about it?
GC: Unfortunately I’m not a multi-tasker in that regard so I wouldn’t really want to listen to music or commentary while I was trying to concentrate on a piece of work, it wouldn’t help me, it wouldn’t assist my thought process, so I’m afraid I can’t really give you a piece of music or a radio channel in that regard.
Host: That is alright, that’s fine, thanks for answering the quick-fire round., so we’ll move on to the primary question for today’s episode. Now the whole point of the A-Z Building Surveying is that we are talking about, we’re breaking down building surveying into its constituent parts so that people who listen who don’t know a lot about building surveying or may just be passing through, have a particular need of questions that need to be answered. So the whole point of this is to provide a lowdown foundation for them to build up. So this is some of the questions that have come in, what are the constituent parts that make up a good surveyor?
GC: Well I think one of the key things is to establish what the client wants and what their trying to achieve by instructing you, and so often a client may say that he wants a building survey but when you investigate what his requirements are, it’s often something very different but related, for instance, he may be wishing to reduce his repairing liability in a Lease situation and a building survey would possibly help in that regard but wouldn’t be the legal document you would need to achieve that. I think attention to detail is key in building surveying, checking the accuracy of your work, calculations and what you are saying, the ability to report and communicate clearly with your clients and obviously to take a thorough approach to your work. I see many reports that say I couldn’t inspect the rear elevation or the roof because I couldn’t get access, a good surveyor goes the extra distance, gets into the neighbouring property or arranges an access platform to view the roof so that he can give a comprehensive report upon the building and not hide behind caveats of that type.
Host: Do you think that’s where homebuyers are kind of falling down a bit and obviously kind of like a Level 2 survey aren’t they, so they’re not meant to be full but having my own observations on them is that they tend to just kind of caveat and there’s very little, I mean it almost just asks more questions than it answers. Is that where a full survey’s going to be so awesome and a good surveyor with a full survey is the ultimate tool kit?
GC: Well I think that comes back to establishing what your client’s requirements are at the outset and it is possible that they could ring up and ask for a Homebuyer’s Report but is it actually the appropriate document that will serve their needs and that will be influenced by the age and type of the building and what their situation is in terms of potential liability. Obviously a Homebuyer’s Report is an intermediate level of report compared to a full Building Survey and it has to be seen in that context but a good building surveyor would still, I think, ensure that the client was given comprehensive advice within the context and confines of that report.
Host: You are tuned in to Cardoe Martin’s A-Z of Building Surveying, thanks to Graham Cardoe for joining us on this episode and we will, well tune in for next one.
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