Before you buy
The notary appointment is set and you want to know what the fabric really gives you. We walk the house before you sign.
Building assessment across the Heinsberg district
Building surveyor in Erkelenz
We look, we record, and we tell you what the finding actually means.
A crack above a door, a wall that will not dry out, a handover due next week: what you need is a finding, not a suspicion. KNOP Bauunternehmen surveys residential and commercial buildings in Erkelenz and across the Heinsberg district, records every observation at the component itself and hands it to you in writing.
- Area covered
- Erkelenz and the whole Heinsberg district
- Recorded by
- Viktor Knop, master mason and concrete builder
- You receive
- Site visit, photographic findings, written assessment
01Occasion
Four reasons people in Erkelenz pick up the phone
Almost every enquiry fits one of these four situations. Tell us which one it is when you call and we already know what to look at first.
Before handover
The shell is finished and about to be signed off. We walk it with you and record whatever is still open.
When a crack appears
A crack has shown up and may still be growing. We classify it instead of painting over it, and say whether it is dormant or moving.
When damp persists
A plinth, a cellar or an external wall stays wet. We follow the water back to the point where it gets in.
02Scope
What we look at
We survey out of building practice, which means along the components that have to carry, discharge and stay tight. Whatever is accessible, we inspect. Whatever stays hidden goes into the report as an open point.
01
Foundation and plinth
Ground slab, plinth junction and the horizontal barrier against rising damp.
02
Loadbearing masonry
Wall build up, openings, lintels, bearing lengths and the pattern of cracking.
03
Concrete and reinforcement
Surfaces, construction joints, cover to steel, exposed reinforcement, cantilevered slabs.
04
Slabs and bearings
Slab edges, propping, deflection and the junction back into the masonry.
05
Roof and junctions
Eaves, verge and every junction with elements rising through the roof.
06
Where the water goes
Ground falls, drainage, the splash zone and the cellar stairwells.
03Findings
Six plates from our own photographs
This is what a finding looks like with us. First what the photograph shows. Beneath it, why it matters. Every image comes from a site the company built itself.
Plinth and barrier
Observed
Horizontal barrier laid over the slab, perimeter insulation carried below the finished ground level.
What it means
The plinth is where damp most often climbs into a wall. If the barrier runs through without a break, the wall above stays dry. Where it is missing or badly lapped, it shows up years later as a salt line in the plaster.
Cantilever and joint
Observed
Cantilevered concrete slab, construction joint visible at the floor junction, surface free of honeycombing.
What it means
A construction joint is where everything that was not worked cleanly separates later on. While it is open it can be judged. Once the balcony is finished, the only question left is why something below is getting wet.
Reinforcement before the pour
Observed
Reinforcement layer of the ground slab, edge formwork set, starter bars standing ready for the walls.
What it means
After the pour, none of the reinforcement can be seen. If its position is not recorded first, it can later only be guessed at or chased out. A photograph taken here is worth more in a dispute than any later memory of it.
Masonry and openings
Observed
Facing brickwork with window and door openings formed, lintels set, roof already closed.
What it means
Openings are the weak points of any wall. Bearing length and lintel depth decide whether a crack appears above the window in a few years. Both are still measurable while the shell is open.
Slab at the junction
Observed
Freshly power floated ground slab, starter bars for the rising walls standing in line.
What it means
Level and junction are settled on the slab. What sits out of true here does not come straight in the masonry above, it only gets packed out. That costs material and shows on the facade in the end.
Plan seen from above
Observed
A storey photographed from above, loadbearing walls and slab edges exposed, propping in place.
What it means
From above you can check whether the loadbearing walls really do sit over one another and whether the loads arrive where they belong. On a plastered building that is no longer visible.
04Process
How a finding comes about
Five steps, always the same ones. That way you know from the outset what happens next and when you will have something in your hands.
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01
Call and triage
You describe briefly what it is about. We tell you straight away whether a survey helps at all or whether another trade is the right one.
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02
Site visit
We come to the building, inspect what is accessible and talk it through with you as we go. Questions get answered at the component, not later in the report.
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03
Recording
Every observation is photographed and located. Image, storey and component belong together, otherwise the record cannot be placed afterwards.
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04
Assessment
We classify every observation: what it is, where it comes from and what follows from it if nothing is done.
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05
Report
You receive everything in writing, with images, in language that does not need a building dictionary. Follow up questions we settle by phone.
05Report
What you end up holding
The report is the actual result. It is built so that you can put it in front of a seller, a contractor or your bank without having to translate it first.
- 01A cover sheet naming the property, the date and the reason for the survey
- 02Every finding as its own plate with the photograph that belongs to it
- 03What was observed, kept separate from what follows from it
- 04A note on what should be dealt with first and what can wait
- 05Open points that cannot be settled without opening up a component
We put no figure in a report that we have not measured or calculated. Where a statement needs a structural engineer or a laboratory, the report says exactly that.
Request a report
06Enquiry
Tell us what it is about
A few lines are enough to start with. We will get back to you and settle by phone whether a site visit makes sense and what it would cover.
Call02165 171 666
Contactviktor@knop-bauunternehmen.de
To the main company sitewww.knop-bauunternehmen.de
Knop Bauunternehmen GmbH, Frohnstr. 43, 40789 Monheim am Rhein
On working days we usually come back to you the same day or the next. If it is urgent, calling is faster.
07Limits
What we say and what we do not
A finding is only worth what it is honest about. So we also write down where our statement ends.
01A master trade business, not an authority
Viktor Knop is a master mason and concrete builder and surveys out of his own building practice. We are not publicly appointed and sworn. Where a public appointment or a court report is required, we say so openly.
02We report on what is accessible
Without opening up, some components stay hidden. Whatever we have not seen goes into the report as an open point and never as a finding.
03No figure without a basis
Where a statement needs a calculation or a measurement, we say so rather than quoting a number nobody has checked.
08Area
Erkelenz and the Heinsberg district
The company is based in Monheim am Rhein and works across the whole Heinsberg district. Erkelenz is an easy site visit for us, and so is every town and municipality listed below.
- Erkelenz
- Heinsberg
- Hückelhoven
- Wegberg
- Wassenberg
- Geilenkirchen
- Übach-Palenberg
- Gangelt
- Selfkant
- Waldfeucht
If your building sits just outside this list, ask anyway. We will tell you honestly whether the journey is worth it.
09Questions
What we are asked most often
Six answers that settle most calls in advance.
01What does a survey cost?
That depends on the building and on the reason. Tell us by phone what it is about and how large the property is, and we will say beforehand what to expect. We do not have one flat rate that fits every house.
02How quickly can I get an appointment in Erkelenz?
Call us and we will fix the site visit between us. We do not promise a fixed deadline before we know how urgent it is and how much time the property needs.
03Do I get the findings in writing?
Yes. Every finding appears in the report with its photograph, together with what was observed and what follows from it. Open points are marked as such.
04Do you survey older buildings as well?
Yes. We look at existing fabric exactly as we look at new build. With older houses we are especially clear about what cannot be settled without opening up a component.
05Will you attend the handover with me?
Yes. We walk the shell with you before you sign and record what is still open. You conduct the handover, we supply the findings for it.
06Are you publicly appointed and sworn?
No. We survey as a master trade business out of our own building practice, in structural work since 2008. Where a public appointment is required, in court for instance, we say so openly and point you the right way.
10Contact
Better to look once than to repair twice
One call is enough to settle whether a site visit is worth it. It costs you nothing and us a few minutes.