Damp Surveys Limited was incorporated in 2017 by Simon Hichens. Simon worked in property; including management, surveying (damp surveys) and valuation. He has 2,000 reports to his name.

@ Damp Surveys
Simon is an enthusiastic investigator of damp in buildings. He worked at Redland Bricks Ltd Nutbourne Brickworks, Hambeldon in the 80’s to fund his student life at Exeter University and Kingston, graduating in Chemistry and Business. His early career was as an auditor (financial investigator) at PwC, qualifying as an ACA with the ICAEW.

Other than damp surveys, audit taught Simon;
- The art of thoroughly investigating information.
- Ask, listen and evaluate what people say.
- Be sceptical until you have seen corroborating data from an independent source.
- Record systematically.
- Don’t ignore inconvenient contradictory evidence.
- Go the extra mile until root causes are satisfactorily identified.
- Quantify risks, qualify uncertainty and report honestly and clearly.
- Protect personal possessions, treat assets as if they were your own.
- Act respectfully and professionally at all times – be vigilant.
- Act for the client in their best interests.
- Understand the legal responsibilities of acting as an agent for the client.
- Be honest, identify and report potential conflicts of interests immediately.

He qualified as a Certificated Surveyor of Dampness in Buildings (CSDB) with the Property Care Association – PCA and membership of the Institute of Specialist Surveyors and Engineers – ISSE.

Interest in damp surveys started with his Grandmother’s house in Cornwall. Many years ago she arranged a free “survey” from a contractor (first mistake – with respect to contractors who offer damp surveys), followed by a recommendation to install damaging damp treatment. Holes were drilled vertically and horizontally in the mortar bed and injected with damp proofing solution. The area in the photo is 2M off the ground and is made of impermeable granite blocks about 300mm wide. It turns out the damp was internal, caused by excess humidity, inadequate ventilation and cold surfaces. We don’t know if the contractor was Triton, Kenwood, Tapco, Swiftcure, Rentokill, Peter Cox etc who misdiagnosed the problem and mis-sold the damp-proofing treatment.
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