Recommend Structural engineer

You'll be lucky....

@JimJ

Are they such a rare species in the north?

@Marc-melodic

Nope - they're a rare species all over the country....

@Marc-melodic

I googled structural engineer in Bulgaria and several came up in Sofia and other districts.

@nettie605

He's looking for a building surveyor, which is a profession which doesn't exist here.  Structural engineers here draw up technical specs for new buildings/renovations but don't do surveys or produce reports of existing problems with properties - or have professional indemnity insurance in case they give clients poor advice when it comes to purchasing an existing property.  When I first came here looking for a property, over 20 years ago, I wasted a LOT of time trying to find a surveyor; since then, I've met literally dozens of foreigners on that same fruitless quest.  The usual approach here is to find a trustworthy builder (a pretty tall order in itself) and rely on his advice regarding the condition of the property and how much it will cost to fix any defects caused by the previous "trustworthy" builder who built/renovated it.

I subscribe to the "Never say never" school of thought, but I've never succeeded in finding anyone who even claimed to be able to fulfil the role of building surveyor, let alone had any PI insurance.  I've known literally dozens of foreigners who've spent time trying to find one, before giving it up as a bad job.  Even banks don't have such people on hand when they give out mortgages...

You're in the Wild East, folks - things here aren't what you're used to "back home"!

@JimJ

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences, It may help others to save on having too much distress. 🏠

Yes thank you both!

@jimj i suspect I know the answer... But do you know any builders that have moved to Bulgaria I could reach out to? Ideally trustworthy but will consider 'competent'

@Marc-melodic

I've spent well over 20 years here* looking for a decent builder who really knows his (or her) stuff, So far, I have amassed a long list divided into sections such as "Incompetent", "Incompetent & Dishonest", "Studying to Achieve Incompetency", "Delusional", "Bodger - Only Use If Permanently Supervised".  By and large, Bulgarian builders are from the school of "I once watched my grandfather saw a piece of wood when I was a child - that how I learned to be a Master Craftsmen in my own imagination".  In addition, any job that needs more than one person will require them hiring a "brigade" of gypsies at below minimum wage, with short attention spans and no building skills at all.  You have to be there watching them the whole time (it's amazing what sins vanish once a bit of cement, plasterboard or a coat of paint has been applied over it).

The old adage applies: "If a builder is available when you need him, it's only because no-one else will hire him" - but people are so desperate these days that even known bodgers have customers queuing for their "services".

*And don't necessarily expect foreign "craftsmen" to be any better - all the ones I've encountered in the various countries I've lived in over many decades fit into the categories above.  But Dum spiro, spero.....