Liability after building inspection: Your rights

Questioner

We bought a house in June 2015, built in 1933. The questionnaire filled in by the seller shows no defects. We had a building inspection done on June 14. This brought up some things such as checking all roof tiles and replacing the number, replacing the roof covering of the dormer attic. A roofer came 2 weeks ago and now it appears that the gutters are bad because they are nailed, there are cracks in them. In addition, the roof covering of the bay window must be replaced. In addition, the chimney must be rebuilt and impregnated. Finally, the corner rafters and the ridge tiles need replacing (cement is gone and some are broken). The last things are not mentioned at all in the construction report. We wonder who is liable for what...the costs appear to be 5x as high. The building report is certainly incomplete. We do not know if the sellers were aware. How should we proceed from here and what are our opportunities?

Lawyer

IN your case, it appears from your story that the building inspection was not carried out properly and that even more defects were found than were mentioned in the report. If you can demonstrate that the building condition is worse than the report shows than the inspector stated, it is also worth trying to recover the costs of damages from the inspector, as he may have been negligent. He should have known about the defects if the inspection had been carried out thoroughly. The question in this case is also whether these defects were known to the selling party. If they were not aware of this, they did not violate the duty to provide information. I do not dare to say directly on the basis of the information you have provided what the feasibility of recovering is and what the direct steps to follow are. For that, I would have to delve a little deeper into the matter by means of additional information. If you would like further advice or assistance, you can always contact me.

Lawyer

If you want to proceed with this, my first advice is to contact both the selling party and the construction expert. You should not wait too long with this. It depends on the extent of the damage whether it is worthwhile. I do advise you to engage a lawyer who understands these kinds of matters because litigation will probably be necessary. If desired, you can contact me directly to discuss this further and to be able to give thorough advice as well as an assessment of the feasibility.