Arnold & Baldwin Chartered Surveyors

Truly stellar customer service - from Melissa who co-ordinated everything with precision and aplomb, to our surveyor who rang me up to run through the findings well ahead of the (very well written) official report so we knew what to expect. We're really happy with the thoroughness, efficiency and competence shown by A&B and would be delighted to hire them again. Highly recommend.
Feb 17th, 2023

Excellent service. Very friendly staff
Jan 14th, 2023

Great communication, very informative and great turnaround.
Nov 20th, 2022

Nov 5th, 2022

6 MARCH 2023 UPDATE: Mr Arnold, thank you for your response and for your kind wishes. It would appear that you prefer to respond publicly rather than privately. I shall not be saying more on here after this update. My intention was only to check whether there was anything stopping you from responding to my letters. Nothing, it would appear. Your remarks that CEDR agreed with you are significant. And your decision to rely on CEDR - instead of defending your newly-qualified surveyor - is interesting. As you have done for some of your other one-star reviews, please explain why the inspection of the garage - and what your newly-qualified surveyor knew of the garage - didn't identify the possibility of asbestos in that garage? On the one hand you say you "did not have any obligation to assess the potential presence of asbestos in the Survey". On the other you say asbestos is one of the 8 reasons why you need a home ... survey. It can't be both. Please clarify which it is either here or by responding to the many questions I have asked and to my recent letters dated 25 February 2023 and 27 February 2023. ========== On 9 July 2018, Arnold & Baldwin invited me to write them a review. What we have experienced at the hands of Mr Joe Arnold for more than four years is unacceptable. Mr Arnold is appointed to the (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) RICS Residential Survey and Valuation Professional Group. Mr Arnold knows that his surveyors should properly emphasise the suspected presence of asbestos-containing materials if the inspection identifies that possibility. It is likely Mr Arnold helped to write those words. Why otherwise would Mr Arnold say that asbestos is one of the 8 reasons why you need a home, property or building survey? Mr Arnold assigned us a newly-qualified surveyor who had (at most) four months of surveying experience. We did not know this at the time. Unfortunately, the newly-qualified Arnold & Baldwin surveyor failed to suspect the garage ceiling of what he believed to be a 1960s extension with bedrooms above the garage. RICS even says that Asbestos was particularly popular in the 1960s. After a plumber alerted us, we found that the entire garage ceiling was made of undecorated Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB). Naked as the day it was installed more than 50 years ago. It cost us more than 6,000 to take care of. Mr Arnold wishes to deny that his newly-qualified surveyor could even see the ceiling. Mr Arnold said about the photograph below, Please see attached photo of the garage on the day of the inspection. We must emphasise, as stated in our survey, that we carry out purely a visual inspection. This means we do not take up carpets, floor coverings or floorboards, move furniture or remove the contents of cupboards. IT IS CLEAR THAT THE SURVEYORS VISION WAS SEVERELY RESTRICTED and as such, they were unable to provide a full commentary on the garage (my emphasis). The other photograph is a close-up of the distribution box at the other end of the garage that was also taken on the day of the inspection. The newly-qualified Arnold & Baldwin surveyor did not have to take up any carpets to visually inspect the garage ceiling; he just needed to look up as he made his way through the garage to take a picture of the distribution box. (The other photographs are there to help you to spot the stuff if ever you come across it.) I am as sure as I can be that Mr Arnold would have identified the possibility of asbestos in that garage without even setting foot in it. I expect things would have turned out differently if Mr Arnold had himself undertaken our survey. Mr Arnold denies any liability. It has now been more than four years. Instead of answering my reasonable questions, Mr Arnold and his advisers (including RICS) prefer to gaslight me. We all make mistakes. We just need to own up and learn. I invite Mr Arnold to speak to me. To meet me. To sort this thing out. And to put it behind us. I promise to edit this review to reflect any progress and outcome. Mr Arnold, you know where I am.
Mar 6th, 2023