I once considered becoming a marine surveyor and went to see my lawyer to ask his advice before taking the plunge. “ Don’t touch it with a barge pole” he advised me. “ See that pile of documents on that shelf … they’re all lawsuits directed at surveyors!” Needless to say, I followed his advice. Some time later a good friend, a marine surveyor, lost his home in a lawsuit over a survey he had done, not for the man who sued him but for a previous owner who had passed the old survey on. So yes, surveyors can be sued, despite the disclaimers, but their sins of omission need to be pretty egregious. That said, a trawler I purchased a year ago was surveyed by a pretty competent fellow who, nonetheless, missed several areas of delamination in the foc’sle lining and the house sides (glass over marine ply recently rebuilt). Fortunately I was able to replace all the foregoing myself but shudder at what it would cost if local ‘chippies’ were employed at $90 per hour plus!
Where to begin. First, I learned long ago, if everyone who considered starting a business made decisions based on what their attorney told them, no one would start a business. I have had the same business attorney for 17 years (he was the third one) and I don't know how I would manage without him, however, he's a rare breed (former enlisted Marine embassy guard), he understands the goal if business is to actually do business and be profitable. Most attorneys will give you the worst case scenario, and if you only listen to that, you will be paralyzed with fear and never do anything but work for someone else.
If you are a surveyor and you aren't incorporated, and insured, to protect your assets, you are truly a fool. Most surveyors I know have this coverage and understand its importance, and in most cases the coverage is available through their professional organization, so shame on the surveyor who lost his home, there's no reason for that.
In my nearly forty years in the business I can think of only a few cases where I've heard of surveyors being sued, must are judgement proof, the business has few assets, so those doing the suing move on to more lucrative targets.
Having said all that, I have encountered my share of inept, incompetent and negligent surveyors; and that behavior was what partially inspired me to start my consulting business. I managed a boat yard (after working as a marine mechanic and electrician for 7 years) and saw too may examples of folks buying brokerage vessels without being made aware of the many and often obvious flaws. I would go aboard the vessel to look it over in preparation for the work they wanted to do, fun stuff like water makers, inverters, paint and varnish, only to come away with a 25, 50 or 100k dollar estimate to fix seacocks, raw water plumbing, electrical, exhaust, and running gear issues. That news was difficult to deliver, as it was never in the budget for the new owners. When I delivered the news, the response invariably was, "But we had it surveyed and none of that was noted".
I have my bones to pick with many, but not all, hull and engine surveyors, of that there is no doubt, however, there are exceptions, smart, savvy, competent individuals who often come from the marine trades, as former mechanics, shipwrights, and engineers, who have the necessary first hand experience, and thus confidence, to thoroughly review and critique a vessel in the manner it should be reviewed for a pre-purchase survey, the one opportunity a buyer has to catch faults, flaws and defects and avoid big, expensive post sale surprises. I have nothing against those who retire from other non-marine professions, but the ones that become surveyors because they 'just want to be around boats' usually don't have, in my experience, what it takes to identify shortcomings, many of which are subtle and easily missed. Equally, surveyors, even competent ones, who are not physically fit, those who can't crawl through bilges and behind engines, are not well suited to the task.
