We recently undertook a building survey for a Client who was purchasing a high value house in St Johns Wood, London. Following the successful exchange of contracts our Client has instructed us to prepare a reinstatement cost assessment of the property for insurance purposes. The reinstatement cost assessment is required in preparation of our Client completing on the purchase from which point he will be liable for the insurance of the building.
Following receipt of the instruction we have arranged to revisit the property to take accurate measurements of the house for use in calculating the rebuild cost of the property. The reinstatement cost assessment will then be prepared taking into account the size and construction of the property which is Grade 2 listed and a report setting out the values and what is included in the assessment will be issued to our Client.
It is important to ensure that reinstatement cost assessments are accurate and they should be checked every few years to make sure that any building is correctly insured. Insurance companies typically index link reinstatement costs year on year however over time those figures can become distorted and inaccurate. Reinstatement cost assessments should be reviewed annually and whilst index linking values is accepted for a couple of years, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) advise that reinstatement cost assessments are carried out at least every three years or whenever there are any material changes made to the building.
