Independent damp surveys in City of London
The City has few homes and they are unlike anything else in London: the Barbican and Golden Lane estates, a scattering of Victorian and Edwardian mansion flats, and a growing number of converted office buildings. Concrete, listed status and shared building services define the problems here rather than brick and ground level.
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City of London housing, and what it does when it gets wet
The Barbican is Grade II listed concrete, and that combination is unusual and constraining. Exposed board marked concrete cannot be treated, coated or altered without consent, and the estate has its own standards for what may be done inside a flat as well as outside. Concrete is also thermally conductive, so cold bridging at slabs, columns and window surrounds is inherent to the construction rather than a defect in the ordinary sense, and the answer is heating, ventilation and internal detail rather than anything applied to the structure.
The mansion flats bring shared parapets, valley gutters, lightwells and long communal stacks, and the water that enters at roof level appears several floors below and often several flats along. In a building with a single freeholder and dozens of leaseholders, establishing the path of the water is what determines whose service charge pays for the repair.
The office to residential conversions are the newest stock and the least tested. Deep floorplates, extensive glazing, mechanical ventilation and layouts that were never designed for domestic moisture loads. Where ventilation was specified for an office and is now serving kitchens and bathrooms, condensation follows and it is a design outcome rather than a resident failing.
What we are usually called out to in City of London
- Cold bridging at slabs, columns and window surrounds in listed concrete construction
- Listing constraints ruling out coatings and alterations that would be routine elsewhere
- Mansion block leaks entering at parapet level and appearing several floors down
- Service charge disputes needing an independent view of where the defect actually is
- Office to residential conversions with ventilation never designed for domestic moisture
- Lightwell and internal courtyard drainage that nobody has inspected in years
Which kind of damp is it?
In a London building the same stain can have four or five different causes, and in City of London we regularly find two at once. Water rising from the ground through a wall with no working course. Rain entering through a parapet, a gutter, a cracked render or a window head. Moisture from the air condensing on a cold wall. Water from a pipe, a bath seal or a flat upstairs. Each needs a different repair and, in a shared building, often a different person to pay for it.
Our readings are taken to separate them: at depth as well as at the surface, at heights up the wall, on either side of the damp, and alongside humidity and surface temperatures. The pattern, not a single number, is what the diagnosis rests on.
How we survey a City of London property
- Externally first: the elevations, the ground or paving against them, and every route water has to the wall
- For flats, the parts of the building outside the demise that can be seen or reasonably reached
- Readings that distinguish surface salts from moisture in depth, rather than a single pin meter figure
- Dew point conditions in the affected rooms, logged and compared with the coldest surfaces
- Ventilation measured, not assumed from the presence of a fan
- Previous damp treatments identified, with whether they addressed the cause
Inside the report
Each City of London report follows the same order, so it reads easily to a buyer, a landlord or a court:
- Scope and conditions on the day
- Observations, with photographs
- Measurements, with where each was taken
- Conclusions on cause
- Recommendations and an outline cost
- Limitations: what was not inspected and why
From request to report
- Send the request form or call. We reply the same day with the fee in writing.
- We agree a visit, including evenings and weekends, and arrange access to any communal areas if needed.
- The surveyor spends as long as the City of London property needs.
- The written report follows within 24 hours.
We do not sell damp proofing, tanking, ventilation units or timber treatment. In City of London, as everywhere in London, that independence is what makes the report useful to a buyer negotiating a price, a tenant raising a disrepair issue, or an owner deciding whether a quote is justified.
Leaseholders, landlords and buyers in City of London
Leaseholders in City of London often discover that the cause of their damp sits in a part of the building they do not own. Our report says where the water is coming from and which element of the building it passes through, which is the evidence a freeholder or managing agent needs under the lease. For landlords, damp and mould are hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and social landlords in England now work to the fixed timescales of Awaab's Law. Our guide to Awaab's Law explains what that means.
By town
The Barbican and Golden Lane
Large post war residential estates with concrete frames, podiums and many flats. Damp here is usually from podium and roof waterproofing, balcony details or condensation on cold concrete, and responsibility often sits with the estate management rather than the flat.
Clerkenwell edge and Smithfield
Older warehouses and commercial buildings converted into flats. Thick brick walls, old roofs and shared drainage are the recurring themes, along with basements that were never designed to be lived in.
Riverside and the eastern City
Modern blocks and conversions near the Thames and towards Aldgate. Mechanical ventilation, construction moisture in newer buildings and leaks from roof terraces are what we are typically asked to look at.
Where we cover
We survey residential property throughout the City and the streets immediately around it.
- Barbican
- Golden Lane
- Smithfield
- Blackfriars
- Aldgate
- Farringdon
- Fleet Street
- Moorgate
- Bank
Postcode districts
- EC1
- EC2
- EC3
- EC4
What customers say about us
We were in the process of buying a house and needed a damp survey fairly quickly. Really easy to arrange, they managed to fit us in without any hassle and the report came through quickly afterwards. Great service from start to finish and we’d definitely recommend.
Bradley Hollingdale, on Google
Really happy with the damp survey by ATI. Tom was friendly, professional and took the time to explain everything clearly. We’d been dealing with the issue for over a year, and Tom managed to find the root cause, which was such a relief. Really appreciate his help and would definitely recommend him.
Nala Nala, on Google
City of London questions
Can anything be done about condensation in a listed concrete flat?
Yes, though not by altering the concrete. Listing rules out coatings, cladding and most visible intervention, so the work has to be done through heating, ventilation and internal detail: keeping surface temperatures above dew point where it matters, providing ventilation that actually moves the air it is rated for, and treating the specific cold spots rather than the whole envelope. A report that recommends insulating the structure is a report that will be refused consent.
Water is coming into our flat from the common parts. Where does that leave us?
In a stronger position than it feels, provided the path is documented. Roofs, parapets, valley gutters, lightwells and communal stacks are normally the freeholder's responsibility and are funded through the service charge. What is missing in most of these disputes is not goodwill but evidence about where the water is actually entering. Our report supplies that, with readings and photographs, which is what turns a complaint into a repair instruction.
Our Barbican flat has damp near the balcony. Is that ours to fix?
Balconies, podiums and the external envelope on large estates are commonly the responsibility of the estate or freeholder. The report identifies whether the water is coming through those elements.
Do you survey commercial buildings in the City?
We survey residential properties and mixed use buildings where flats are affected. For purely commercial premises, ask and we will say whether we can help.
Our converted warehouse flat has condensation on the windows every morning. Is that normal?
Some is normal in cold weather. Heavy, daily condensation with mould suggests too little ventilation for the moisture produced. We measure and report what will make the biggest difference.
Will you try to sell me damp proofing in City of London?
No. We carry out no remedial work, so there is nothing to sell after the survey. The report states the cause, the work that would actually fix it and an outline of what that work should reasonably cost, so you can get like for like quotes from contractors of your choice, or put it to a seller, landlord or freeholder.
Nearby
Book a damp survey in City of London
We survey and report only, with no treatment to sell, so what the report says is the whole of our interest. Same day response to every enquiry, and a written report with photographs within 24 hours of the visit.
Book a survey or call 020 3355 4944