RICS

Helping you choose the right pre-purchase Survey

Choosing the right survey will help highlight any serious problems and advise you of the specific risks before you commit to the process of buying or selling a property.

The seller is selling any problems with the property and the buyer is buying those problems.

RICS has three different levels of survey which can only be conducted by an RICS qualified surveyor. These are reliable and cost effective and carry the full weight of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Buying a home

It is important to remember that your mortgage lender’s valuation report is not a survey. It merely tells your lender whether or not the property is reasonable security for your loan.

An RICS survey will tell you the actual condition of the property.

This is vital information that can be invaluable during price negotiations, and will also help you avoid expensive surprises after you’ve moved in.

Selling a home

An RICS survey can be an aid to selling your home. It will show you any problems that may delay your sale or cause price reductions later in the process.

Staying at home

A survey of the current condition of your home will warn you of defects and help you avoid escalating repair and maintenance costs in the future.

We can tailor the survey to your own requirements.

Buying or selling? Your survey options

Survey level one - The RICS Home Condition Report

Choose this report if you are buying or selling a conventional house, flat or bungalow, of recent construction, built from common building materials and in reasonable condition. It focuses purely on the condition of the property by setting out the following:

Clear ‘traffic light’ ratings of the condition of different parts of the building, services, garage and outbuildings, showing problems that may require varying degrees of attention;
A summary of the risks to the condition of the building; and
Advice on replacement parts guarantees, Planning and Building Control matters for your legal advisers.

The RICS Home Condition Report does not offer detailed advice on defects noted.

Survey level two - The RICS Home Buyer Report (Survey)

Choose this report if you need more extensive information whilst buying or selling a conventional house, flat or bungalow, of recent construction, built from common building materials and in reasonable condition. It costs more than the Condition Report and includes:

All of the features in the Condition Report;

A list of problems that the surveyor considers may affect the property;
Advice on repairs and ongoing maintenance;
Issues that need to be investigated to prevent serious damage or dangerous conditions;
Legal issues that need to be addressed before completing your purchase; and
Information on location, local environment and the recorded energy efficiency (where available).

We do not provide a market valuation of the property. This is a specialist sphere of knowledge and we are happy to recommend an appropriately qualified Surveyor if required.

Survey Level three – The RICS Building Survey Report

Choose this report if you are dealing with a large, older, unusual or run-down property, or if you are planning extensive refurbishment.

This is not a standard RICS document but is tailored specifically to the property in question.

This is the most in depth and comprehensive survey available with thorough analysis of defects found during the non - invasive inspection. It covers the usual list of concerns such as dry rot, wet rot, decay, woodworm, subsidence, settlement and heave and any other special requirements that may be relevant for the use to which the building will be put. It explains in most instances how these problems have occurred and how they may be resolved.

The survey document is published in a logical sequential manner including all building elements of both structure and finish. Internally individual elements are discussed room by room thereby enabling the document to be more readily used as an ongoing maintenance tool in years to come.

Where defects are identified, the reason for any failure is explained, together with brief details of necessary repairs. An approximate global cost for more significant defects is provided which you may wish to use to renegotiate the purchase price.

As part of the service a building cost reinstatement valuation for submission to your buildings insurer is provided.

At-a-glance Survey comparisons
Services provided	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Describes construction & condition on the date of inspection	✓	✓	✓
Identifies defects that need attention	✓	✓	✓
Identifies defects that need further investigation	✓	✓	✓
Identifies dangerous defects	✓	✓	✓
Identifies potential legal issue	✓	✓	✓
Identifies any additional advice necessary		✓	✓
Aims to enable you to budget for repairs		✓	✓
Identifies ongoing maintenance requirements		✓	✓
Identifies construction methods & materials & any likely future maintenance requirements			✓
Aims to identify potential hidden defects			✓
Provides approximate global cost estimate to rectify urgent & significant defects			✓
Provides comments on energy efficiency			✓
Provides comments on environmental considerations			✓
Provides reinstatement cost for insurance purposes			✓