Choosing A Marine Yacht or Boat Surveyor
Advice from Spheredawn
Unfortunately the profession of Marine Yacht or Boat Surveying is effectively unregulated so anyone can say “I am a yacht surveyor” this can lead to bad experiences with yacht surveyors.
There are professional bodies which regulate the professional standards of members. Being an unregulated profession; membership of these bodies is voluntary. Of course membership does not guarantee quality but is a good start.
A set of questions may be (click to read why YOU should ask them):
- Are you a member of the YBDSA , IIMS or other body?
- Can you undertake Tonnage measurements & MCA coding?
- How long have you been practicing professionally in the industry?
- How much will it cost (too cheap generally = lack of experience)?
- Can I see an example of your work?
- What qualifications do you have?
- Can I see a reference from an previous client - a good question to ask??????
- Please ask us these questions or see our why choose Spheredawn page for more information about us.
Why ask these questions?
Some of the major organizations to be aware of are:
- Yacht Designers and Surveyors Association (YDSA or YBDSA)
- Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) with the related Marine Engineers Certifying Authority Limited (MECAL)
- International Institute of Marine Surveyors (IIMS).
These organizations set stringent professional expectations of their membership and require the surveyor to hold professional indemnity insurance. So if your surveyor is a member there is no need to ask "are you insured". Making the 'Are you Insured?' question redundant.
Members of the professional bodies in the higher levels of membership (generally the ones with experience) can also undertake tonnage measurements and MCA coding an experienced surveyor will generally offer these services.
These services are something that it is hard to bend the truth about, and are something within the marine survey industry which does have regulation.
We would recommend this as a question to ask if you require these services or not, as the ability to be able to undertake them gives an implied experience.
Many surveyors are retired people or people who have decided to have a career change and an unregulated industry relating to a hobby seems like a good idea.
So they may have come from a background which is unrelated to the marine industry and therefore will have a lack of background knowledge and will not be as experienced as they claim.
Look for a person who has at least a five year professional background in the industry. Together with a least three years of professional surveying experience.
Not just a person who has x years of boating or boat owning experience.
A very important thing to be aware of is price; most good surveyors will price a boat on length x beam x a positive multiplier.
Be extremely wary of surveyors who are too cheap or quote directly on £’s or €’s per foot as the time taken to survey boats is hugely variant upon type, construction and age.
A price which is overly low or based upon per foot is likely to be from a "surveyor" trying to build up experience and a market for themselves rather than a seasoned professional.
Do of course ensure the price is clear - is travel included?
Any good surveyor should be able to provide a sample report of something similar to what you are buying.
Is an architect a naval architect?
Is a biochemist a GRP expert?
Is an chartered aeronautical engineer a marine engineer?
Of course not.
Are the qualifications held by your surveyor really relevant to marine surveying?
What level are these 'relevant' qualifications at? A diploma, week/month long course, a degree?
Of course a degree in naval architecture or marine engineering is worth a lot for background knowledge and will qualify the things found in the practical environment.
It is still no substitute for time spent professionally in the marine industry.
This has always struck us as an interesting one, we have always been happy to provide them and many surveyors advise this as a key question to ask. But is it really?
A recent experience on a survey has lead us to believe not.
What does a written reference prove without contacting the person involved and verify.
Look here is one:
Spheredawn are the best marine surveyors in the world
Mr D, Duck
So you would contact Mr D, Duck, but ask yourself, what real client would be prepared to field phone calls lasting say 10 minutes from each potential client could be as many as 6 each week? Not many, or in the case we came across not a real client at all.