ABSTRACT
Most property surveyors would surely agree that the commonest property problem is damp damage caused by unwanted moisture. Problems usually arise when there is too much rather than too little moisture on or in a building material, element or component – or even in the air inside the habitable space. In spite of the fact that too much dampness is regularly the root cause of so many property defects, the investigating of dampness does not yet appear to be sufficiently recognised as a core skill area by the various professional property institutions. Chartered surveyors investigating dampness as a core activity are a little out on a limb and left to create their own methodologies. At the beginning of the dampness investigation, the owner will often go through a very detailed history of the damp problems. This will help the investigator make sense of the damp problems.
