Boat surveyors are very important professionals in the boating industry.
A boat surveyor is a professional who carries out inspection and evaluation of boats, yachts, and other marine vessels to assess their condition, safety and overall value.
This can be done before a client purchases a boat or any other marine vessel.
Boat surveying can also be done before a client sells a marine vessel.
This will help ascertain the right price a marine vessel can be bought for or sold at.
That is why it is very important to use the services of a boat surveyor before selling or buying a boat.
Role And Responsibilities Of Boat Surveyor
1)Inspect Marine Vessels
When making use of a boat, absolute safety and functionality of its parts is very paramount.
To achieve this, an inspection of the boat parts have to be done.
This is what will help you determine if the boat is functioning properly.
But for this inspection process to be worth the time, it has to be done by a professional.
This is when the role of a boat surveyor comes in.
The boat surveyor helps in inspecting marine vessels.
This covers the inspection of the body of the boat.
A boat surveyor also inspect the mechanical parts of a boat like the engine to make sure that they are functioning properly.
Apart from the mechanical part of the boat being inspected, the electrical parts are also inspected also.
This helps in discovering any flaw that might exist in the marine vessel.
With this, a repair can be made to easily prevent extensive damage from occuring.
2) Ensure Boats Are Constructed To Industry Standards
Every industry has some certain rules and regulations that has to be complied to.
The boating industry is no exception of this.
In building marine vessels for use, they have to comply to some certain rules and regulations in the marine industry.
This depends on what the marine vessel is to be used for.
The use case of a marine vessel determines how it is built.
If a boat is built solely for recreational purposes, there are some conditions it has to satisfy.
This includes the maximum number of passengers the boat can carry.
This is gotten after a series of test has been made to make sure that the boat can comfortably function while carrying such number of passengers.
3) Deficiencies Identification
One of the greatest reasons why the services of a boat surveyor is relevant is to help ensure safety of marine vessels.
But for marine vessels to function safely, they have to be free from critical deficiencies.
This includes deficiencies on the body of the boat which includes a damaged hull.
Another deficiency that exist in a marine vessel is usually a deficiency in the mechanical part of the marine vessel.
This can be a faulty engine in the marine vessel due to issues like low compression, overheating and other issues like poor performance.
The boat surveyor helps in detecting most of these deficiencies to make sure that they are easily corrected.
With this, the marine vessel will be able to function effectively and safely.
4) Boat Surveyors Access Value Of Boat Before Purchase
A lot of boat owners have complained of being ripped off in the process of buying a marine vessel.
This is even worse when it comes to boat owners that are buying their first boat.
When you are a total newbie in the boat industry, making mistakes can occur easily.
This can occur when you are buying a boat.
To avoid this, you have to make sure that you make use of the services of a marine surveyor.
A marine surveyor will help inspect the working condition of the boat properly.
This includes the body of the boat as well as the mechanical and electrical parts of the boat.
This is because the functionality of these parts will determine the cost at which you are going to buy the marine vessel for.
After a thorough inspection of these parts, the marine surveyor will be able to come up with a price quote that you can optimally buy the marine vessel at.
This will help avoid buying a boat at a higher price.
5) Advice On Maintenance And Repair
As you keep making use of your marine vessels, some of the parts of the boat will develop some fault.
When some parts develop a fault in a marine vessel, some people prefer to repair it while some prefer to make a replacement with a new one.
This decision is always due to how critical the damage of these parts are.
To make the right decision, a boat surveyor carefully inspect the boat to determine which part can be repaired or if it should be totally replaced with a new one.
The boat surveyor also helps in making sure that the boat undergoes a timely maintenance when due.
This will help in improving the longevity and performance of the marine vessel.
6) Assist With Insurance Of Boat
When making use of your marine vessel, one of the important things you should not skip is the insurance of your marine vessel.
But in insuring your marine vessel, making use of some insurance company can be a total rip-off.
This occurs when their insurance rates are too high.
To make sure that you get a good insurance quote from your insurance company, you have to make sure that you consult the services of someone that has a vivid knowledge.
The boat surveyor is one of the professionals with a vivid knowledge when it comes to insuring your boat well.
This is due to their extensive knowledge when it comes to knowing a lot of boat insurance companies.
With this, they can easily select an insurance company that will help make sure your boat is insured without being ripped off.
7) Conduct Boat Test
When a boat surveyor inspect a boat, they have to come out with a report.
This report is what helps a client to easily understand what is to be done.
But before this report comes out, a test has to be made.
This test is done by making use of the boat.
Before the test report is concluded, the boat surveyor drives the boat to observe its performance.
This drive test has to be done by the boat surveyor to make sure that the report is unbiased.
After a thorough inspection of the boat, the boat surveyor can now come out with a comprehensive report for the client.
8) Ensures Compliance To Regulations
When making use of marine vessels, strict compliance has to be put in place.
But the thing is that a lot of boat operators and marine vessel owners refuse to comply with most of the industry standards and regulations.
Some of the reasons why they do this is to reduce running cost.
But at the end of the day it is not usually good for the safety of the boat as well as the passengers in the boat.
One of the ways in which this happens is when boat transport companies make use of no or bad personal flotation devices.
If an emergency occurs in such a boat, the chances of the passengers surviving is always very slim.
That is why it is always very important to make sure that personal flotation devices are readily available in marine vessels and boats.
But to make sure that this is possible, compliance has to be enforced.
One of the professionals that helps in enforcing this compliance is no other person but the boat surveyor.
9) Access Boat Value Before Selling
When you start buying a boat or any other marine vessel, there’s a tendency that you will own more of it.
In having more or buying another marine vessel, you might want to sell off the old one.
In doing so, you have to make sure that you sell it at the right price.
This will ensure that you are not selling it at a price that makes it a loss to you.
But to ensure that you are in a profit margin while selling your used marine vessel, evaluation of the marine vessel has to be right.
As a boat owner without a deep knowledge in the marine industry, you might not be able to come up with the right price.
To avoid selling at a price that is too low, you have to make use of a marine surveyor.
The marine surveyor will perform an inspection of the boat in order to determine a price it can be sold at.
This includes the inspection of the boat exterior as well as inspection of the boat interior.
This inspection will also cover the mechanical parts of the marine vessel as well as the electrical part too.
After the inspection of the boat, a boat surveyor will come up with the price at which the boat should be sold for.
This will help in making sure that you don’t sell off your boat at a loss.
Further Readings
Important Considerations When Buying a Boat that Is Used Or New