Terms of Service

1. Who we are

My House Survey Ltd ("MHS", "we") is a company registered in Ireland, company no. 612124. Registered office: 2 Meadow Copse, Hartstown, Dublin 15. VAT no. IE3497438AH. Contact: robert@myhousesurvey.ie, +353 87 390 6015. Our surveys are carried out by a suitably qualified professional: an engineer, an architect or a chartered building surveyor. This may be a member of our team or a subcontractor working on our behalf.

2. What these terms cover

2.1 These terms apply when you book a pre-purchase survey, snag list, opinion on compliance, or any other service from us ("the service"), whether online, by email or by phone.

2.2 If we give you a written quote or fee proposal, it forms part of our contract with you. If it conflicts with these terms, the quote or proposal applies.

2.3 If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights.

3. The service

3.1 Each service is described on our website and in our report. A pre-purchase survey is a visual, non-intrusive inspection of the parts of the property we can safely see and reach on the day. The scope and its limits are set out in full in the report's "Scope of Inspection: Exclusions and Disclaimers" appendix. A summary is in clauses 3.4 and 3.5 below.

3.2 A survey is not a valuation, a guarantee, or a certificate or opinion of compliance with the Building Regulations or planning law. Opinions on compliance are a separate service.

3.3 We carry out the service with reasonable care and skill.

3.4 Drains. We visually inspect the accessible access junctions (AJs, also called inspection chambers or manholes) where their covers can be lifted safely. We do not carry out CCTV (camera) surveys or test the drains. Blockages, collapses, root ingress and other defects in the below-ground pipes between or beyond the AJs may be present and cannot be seen by a visual inspection. Usually only a CCTV drainage survey can find them. CCTV surveys are available from specialist drainage contractors, and you may wish to get one before you commit to buy. If we see warning signs, we will flag them in the report. We are not responsible for drainage defects that could not reasonably be seen from our inspection of the accessible AJs. This clause describes what the service includes. It does not limit our duty of reasonable care and skill in clause 3.3.

3.5 What the survey does not cover. Unless you instruct us otherwise in writing, the survey does not include:

• opening up concealed or enclosed parts of the structure, or lifting floorboards or wall and ceiling linings, so defects such as woodworm or dry rot may be present but not seen;
• tests or laboratory analysis for deleterious or hazardous materials, including asbestos, which can only be confirmed by laboratory tests;
• testing the electrical, plumbing, heating or other services beyond basic functionality, or specialist inspection and testing of them;
• turning on a water supply that is isolated, because it may have been isolated for another reason. If the water is off, we carry on with the survey and note this in the report, but we cannot assess the water system's operation, pressure or condition;
• invasive tests of the electrical installation, such as concealed wiring, load testing or compliance with the National Rules for Electrical Installations (I.S. 10101);
• invasive inspection of fire stopping, fire separation or structural fire protection;
• enquiries or investigations into contamination of the site or neighbouring land;
• areas we cannot inspect because the property is occupied or access is restricted (the report lists any significant areas we could not inspect).

Where we see signs of a problem in any of these areas, we will say so in the report and recommend further investigation. The full list of limitations is also set out in full in the report's "Scope of Inspection: Exclusions and Disclaimers" appendix. These describe the scope of the survey. They do not limit our duty to carry it out with reasonable care and skill.

4. Booking

4.1 When you book, you make an offer to buy the service. The contract starts when we confirm your booking by email. That email will include a copy of these terms and your booking details.

4.2 We arrange access with the selling agent and confirm the inspection date with you. We aim to inspect within 5 to 10 working days and to issue the report within 3 working days of the inspection. These are targets, not guarantees, because access depends on the agent and the vendor.

5. Price and payment

5.1 The price is shown on our website or in your quote, including VAT. Pre-purchase survey: €679 incl. VAT.

5.2 You can pay at any time before we issue the report, by card through Stripe using the secure payment link we email you. We release the report once payment is received. We do not charge a card surcharge. For quoted work, the payment terms in our fee proposal apply and take precedence over this clause.

5.3 The only extra charges are those in clauses 7 and 8, and anything else you agree to in writing before the work is done.

6. Access and your responsibilities

6.1 We contact the agent to arrange access, but we depend on the agent, the vendor and any occupier. Please ask the agent to make sure that on the day:

• the electricity is on (including credit on any pay-as-you-go meter) and the water is on;
• keys are available for all rooms, outbuildings, the attic hatch and meter boxes;
• any occupier knows we are coming and lets us in; and
• pets are secured, and alarm codes are given or alarms are turned off.

6.2 We may decline to inspect any area that is unsafe. If so, we will list it in the report.

7. No access and return visits

7.1 If we attend at the agreed time and cannot carry out the survey because of no access (for example no keys, locked areas, an occupier refusing entry or the agent not attending), no power (including a pay-as-you-go meter with no credit), unsecured pets, no alarm code, or similar reasons outside our control, we charge 50% of the survey fee for the wasted visit. If you want us to return to carry out the survey, the full survey fee applies to the return visit.

7.2 You agree to these charges when you accept these terms at booking. We will also confirm with you before we book a return visit.

7.3 These charges may be paid by you, or by a third party such as the selling agent or vendor if they agree in writing to pay it. If a third party has not paid within 14 days of our invoice, you must pay it. We will send the invoice to whoever pays.

7.4 No wasted-visit charge applies if the survey could not be carried out because of our own error, or because we arrived outside the agreed time.

8. Your right to cancel (14-day cooling-off period)

8.1 You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period ends 14 days after the day the contract is made (the day we confirm your booking).

8.2 To cancel, tell us clearly by email to robert@myhousesurvey.ie or by post to My House Survey Ltd, 2 Meadow Copse, Hartstown, Dublin 15. You can use the cancellation form at the end of these terms, but you don't have to. You only need to send your message before the 14 days end.

8.3 Starting within the 14 days. Most surveys happen within 14 days of booking. If you ask for, or agree to, an inspection date within the 14 days, you are asking us to start the service during the cancellation period. We will confirm this in our booking email. In that case, if you cancel:

• more than 48 hours before the inspection, you pay nothing and we refund everything you have paid;
• within 48 hours before the inspection, you pay 25% of the survey fee for the work done (confirming your booking, contacting the agent, arranging access and scheduling the surveyor, including card-processing costs we cannot recover). We refund the rest;
• once the inspection has been carried out, you pay the full survey fee, because the inspection is the main part of the service. We still issue your report once the fee is paid; and
• once we have issued the report, the service is fully performed and you can no longer cancel.

If you did not ask us to start within the 14 days, you can cancel within the 14 days and pay nothing.

8.4 We refund you within 14 days of being told that you are cancelling, using the same payment method you used, at no cost to you.

9. Cancelling or rescheduling after the 14 days (and business clients)

9.1 After the 14-day period, or if you are booking for a business, you may cancel free of charge more than 48 hours before the inspection. If you cancel within 48 hours before the inspection, we keep 25% of the survey fee for the work done and refund the rest. Once the inspection has been carried out, the full survey fee is payable even if you cancel before the report is issued, and we will still issue the report once the fee is paid. You cannot cancel once the report has been issued.

9.2 You can reschedule once at no charge if you give us at least 48 hours' notice.

9.3 If we have to cancel, we will first try to arrange a new date with you. If we cannot agree one, we will refund everything you have paid in full.

10. Your report and who can rely on it

10.1 The report is for you and your solicitor, and for your mortgage lender for this purchase only. No one else may rely on it, including the vendor, the agent or a later buyer, unless we agree in writing.

10.2 The report records the condition of the property on the inspection date. Please do not rely on it more than 6 months after that date.

10.3 We keep the copyright in the report. You may share it with your solicitor, your lender and your contractors for the purpose of this purchase.

11. Our responsibility to you

11.1 We are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our failing to use reasonable care and skill, or of our breaking this contract.

11.2 We are not responsible for defects that were outside the scope of the service described in clause 3 and the report appendix, or that could not be seen on the day. This sets out what we do. It does not limit your rights where we have failed to do it with reasonable care and skill.

11.3 Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to limit.

12. Complaints

12.1 Please contact Robert Kelly first at robert@myhousesurvey.ie. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and reply in full within 20 working days.

13. Your personal data

We use your details, and the details of your agent and the property, to provide the service. We share them with the selling agent, vendor or occupier to arrange access, with Stripe to take payment, and with your solicitor or lender if you ask us to. See our Privacy Policy for how long we keep data and for your rights. You can complain to the Data Protection Commission.

14. General

14.1 We may update these terms. The version you accepted when booking applies to your booking.

14.2 These terms are governed by Irish law. If you are a consumer, you may bring a claim in the courts of the place where you live.

Model cancellation form

(Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel the contract.)

To: My House Survey Ltd, 2 Meadow Copse, Hartstown, Dublin 15, robert@myhousesurvey.ie

I hereby give notice that I cancel my contract for the supply of the following service:

Service and property address: ______________________________

Booked on: ______________________________

Name: ______________________________

Address: ______________________________

Signature (only if this form is sent on paper): ______________________________

Date: ______________________________