Nathan Tilford

Expertise

Nathan is an experienced Chartered Building Surveyor working principally in residential property and construction. He has extensive experience in the management, repair and refurbishment of domestic properties with a particular focus on insurance repair of high nett worth properties. He is also an experienced Party Wall Surveyor and acts for both building owners and adjoining owners alike on complex party wall matters.

Nathan advises on listed and heritage properties and is well versed in conservation matters both from a planning and building regulation perspective.

He also undertakes surveys for prospective purchasers advising on existing building defects and associated costs for urgent and long-term repairs.

Within Gateley Smithers Purslow, Nathan takes on regular appointments in the following areas:

• Acting as contract administrator and preparing designs for commercial and domestic projects, including principal designer duties in accordance with the CDM 2015 Regulations.
• Undertaking specific defect diagnosis inspections, structural inspections and condition survey reports.
• Acting as agent, Party Wall Surveyor/ Agreed Surveyor in respect of domestic and commercial party wall disputes, including the preparation of condition surveys and Party Wall Awards.
• Offering technical advice to a range of clients, including insurance companies, loss adjusters, solicitors, private individuals, local authorities, housing associations and house builders.
• Undertake insurance inspections for the purposes of assessing damage caused by perils, completing value at risk calculations and advising insurers in respect of liability disputes and costs.

How do you help clients?

Having started at Gateley Smithers Purslow some 25 years ago as an Undergraduate Building Surveyor to my current position as Operations Director, the time spent within the business has given me an excellent understanding of what good service and performance looks like for clients of all size.

I have helped numerous clients return to their properties following devasting circumstances such as large fires/ river flooding and vehicular impact on time and within budget. Doing this provides incredible satisfaction knowing that we are really making a difference whilst at the same ensuring that time and cost is being correctly controlled.

I believe that communication is key to a well-delivered project ensuring that clients are kept informed at all times in terms of progress and costs. It also provides a real opportunity for continuous improvement and refinement of our services long term.

Providing the right level of service first time, on time and within budget is one of our key strengths as a multi-discipline practice and enables us to retain existing clients and attract new business.

Experience

1. Acting as lead surveyor in the repair of a fire damaged terraced block of 5No Housing Association properties which included the preparation and tendering of a detailed Schedule of Work for full refurbishment, new roofs and internal fixtures and fittings allowing the occupants to return back to their homes as quickly as possible.
2. Acting for a building owner in Central London following metre high basement flooding which then included flood prevention improvement works.
3. Acting for a prospective purchaser of property in Surrey and identifying potential structural roof defects which if left unattended would have cost significant amounts to remedy after purchase.
4. Acting as agent and Building Owner’s Party Wall Surveyor to serve notices for the reconstruction of a commercial property front wall onto new deep foundations involving multiple neighbours, local authority and highways.
5. Acting as expert to establish cause and costs to an ongoing refurbishment project struck by lightening which affected both the building works and unaffected parts of the property.