Unqualified and unprofessional
We had a property for sale and our buyers mortgage lenders wanted a structural survey done on our property before they released the funds. We had previously had spray foam loft insulation that had been removed by a professional company, the lenders wanted proof that the spray foam hadn't caused any damage to the structural integrity of the roof. Our buyers asked this company to come and do that survey. Marcel is the owner and the qualified structural surveyor but he was in Spain at the time so he sent out Mark Finn to do the survey (Mark Finn is not a structural engineer and in fact is a general builder who ran a failed building company Finn Ltd which is in liquidation). Mark came out and took photos, measured walls with his level and informed us that the remnants of spray foam that was left in our loft was a fire hazard! Not only that there were cracks in our walls but not to worry he could fix these and a few hours in the loft and he could sort out the loft insulation too He then sent the photos to Marcel and Marcel produced a report. The lenders wouldn't give our buyers a mortgage until the "fire hazard" was removed. We approached the roofing firm who put our new roof on and asked if they would remove the spray foam, they said they didn't see why it needed removing because spray foam is not and can not be classed as a fire hazard because it is treated with chemicals to make it non flamable but they would do the job for £1080.00, they also said we'd need to get the surveyors out again afterwards to redo the survey. We called Marcel (who was still in Spain) to ask if they could redo the survey and he said they would but would prefer it if their builder (obviously Mark Finn) did the work. We got our roofer to do the job and Mark came back and poked his nose about and said the work was fine and the "fire risk" had been removed. After this Marcel didn't rectify the report he just sent an email to our estate agent to say the fire risk had been removed. After we received the report I looked into this firm and it turns out Marcel isn't a structural engineer in terms of buildings but a structural engineer in terms of road construction, he has no qualifications to do the job he was hired to do and obviously didn't do because he sent out Mark Finn who has no qualifications at all! Having researched the spray foam and the company that produces it, it is a fire safe insulation that has been tested and approved. So this company cost me £1080.00 (of which they wanted me to pay them to do work that was not required and was touting for more work on the walls) and could have cost me my house sale if I hadn't got independent advice from a local roofing firm. Beware of these unqualified rouge traders! Marcel won't reply to my questions about who performed the survey and who compiled the report. You can't send out an unqualified person to do your job and then sit on a sun lounger in Spain and condem someone's house in a report that you are not qualified to produce!