Surveyors in the UK: RICS, survey levels, Home Report

What the surveyor does

The surveyor inspects the property and reports on its condition, defects and risks, so you can decide on the price or on repairs before you commit. This is different from the lender’s valuation: RICS says “A mortgage valuation is for the benefit of the lender, not the home buyer/owner” and “it won’t include the same level of detail as a survey”. nidirect likewise says that, once your offer is accepted, “you should get the property checked for any defects in its condition”, and that the lender may need a separate valuation. For valuations, see the valuer.

The three RICS levels, in the words of the RICS consumer guide: Level 1 “Describes the condition of the property, identifies any risks and potential legal issues and highlights any urgent defects”; Level 2 is “most suitable for conventional properties which are in reasonable condition” and comes as survey only or survey and valuation; Level 3 is “Suitable for large, older or run-down properties, which may be unusual or altered, or if you’re planning major works”. See home survey levels and, for Scotland, the Home Report.

The title and where to check it

What the rule says. “Surveyor” is not, in the sources we read, a title reserved by law. RICS is a professional body, and its Home Survey Standard applies to RICS members and regulated firms: the page describes “mandatory requirements” for those who deliver residential property surveys. RICS suggests looking “for the designations AssocRICS, MRICS or FRICS” and for “Regulated by RICS” on stationery, and warns: “not all firms listed on the “Find A Surveyor” website are RICS Regulated Firms.” It also warns of “fraudulent, AI-generated websites” claiming an affiliation with RICS.

Nation by nation.

• England, Wales, Northern Ireland: no legal requirement to survey in England and Wales (RICS). For Northern Ireland we found only nidirect’s advice to have the property checked, with no obligation stated.
• Scotland: mygov.scot says a seller or selling agent must give you a Home Report within nine days of your request; it is “split into three parts” (a single survey and valuation, a property questionnaire and an energy report), and the survey is “based on a visual inspection by a chartered surveyor”. Some properties, such as some new builds and seasonal holiday homes, do not need one.

Where to check. RICS “Find a Member”: rics.org/find-a-member, which also points to disciplinary and regulatory decisions. When we read it, the search showed an error, so we could not check what an entry looks like. Check one surveyor at a time.

Terms of use (RICS website terms and conditions), verbatim:

• “You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our site for your personal use”
• “the Content must not be used nor reproduced (in whole or part) for any other purpose” “for direct commercial gain without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors”
• under the heading “No text or data mining, or web scraping”: “You shall not conduct, facilitate, authorise or permit any text or data mining or web scraping” “for any purpose, including the development, training, fine-tuning or validation of AI systems or models.”
• the same clause forbids using any “robot”, “bot”, “spider”, “scraper” or other automated device, program, tool, algorithm, code, process or methodology “to access, obtain, copy, monitor or republish any portion of our site”.
• for consumers: “You agree not to use our site for any commercial or business purposes”.

These clauses forbid scraping and, in effect, copying the directory. Payotte does neither: the listing only sends you to the official search.

How Payotte chooses the firm

Payotte selects one firm per trade and per area, on a published grid based only on public data:

• only companies are selected, never a person: no surveyor is named;
• the title is published on the listing so that you check it yourself, at the official register, free of charge;
• the selection is never paid for;
• no firm is listed yet in the UK section;
• Payotte never queries a register in series, and does not copy it.

Questions to ask

• Is your firm RICS regulated, and is the person who will inspect an AssocRICS, MRICS or FRICS member?
• Which RICS level do you recommend for this property, and why?
• What exactly does the quote cover, and what is excluded?
• Does the report include a valuation, and who prepares it?
• Will you inspect the roof space, drains and outbuildings?
• When will I receive the report?