Already have a survey report? Understand what it means and what to do next.
We accept RICS home surveys, building surveys, damp and timber reports, specialist property reports, insurance inspection reports, existing quotations, contractor recommendations and supporting photographs.
Most reports are written to protect the surveyor rather than to explain the property. They record elevated moisture readings, recommend further investigation by a specialist contractor and leave the reader no clearer about what is actually wrong. We read the report against the evidence in it and tell you what that evidence does and does not establish.
0% INTEREST. NO FEES.
Spread the cost of your remedial works.
Pay 40% upfront and spread the balance over three or six monthly instalments.
Available on eligible remedial works, subject to assessment and written agreement.
About your situation
What you receive
A written explanation of the findings, the recommendations we would question, the ones we would act on first, and an indication of what the remedial work usually involves. Where a figure is needed for a budget, an insurer or a managing agent, we set out what the repair would reasonably be expected to cost.
Your documents are treated in confidence, are seen only by the team reviewing them and are never passed to a third party. Uploading a report places you under no obligation to instruct us, and if the report is sound we will say so.
Example of how we interpret a finding
- Original finding
- Elevated moisture readings were recorded to the front reception-room wall.
- Initial interpretation
- Elevated readings alone do not confirm rising damp. Further assessment should consider wall construction, external ground levels, rainwater goods, internal finishes and other possible moisture sources.
- Recommended next step
- Arrange a targeted damp investigation before deciding whether remedial treatment is necessary.
What we look for when we read a survey report
A second opinion from people who carry out the work, so you can tell a genuine defect from a recommendation that protects the person who wrote it.
What we need from you
The report itself, the full address of the property and a note of what prompted the survey: a purchase, a mortgage condition, an insurance claim, a tenant complaint or simply something you can see. If you have photographs of the affected areas, and of the outside face of the same wall, send those too. Where an existing quotation is involved, include it so we can compare the price against the scope it covers.
How the review works
One of our team reads the report against the evidence it contains: the moisture readings taken, where they were taken, whether the external condition of the building was inspected, and whether the conclusion follows from any of it. We separate what the report establishes from what it assumes, and we check the recommendations against the work the property actually needs.
What the written review covers
A written explanation in plain English covering the findings, the recommendations we would question, the ones we would act on first, and the order we would do them in. Where a figure is needed for a budget, an insurer or a managing agent, we set out what the repair would reasonably be expected to cost.
Why so many reports need translating
Most surveys are written to limit the surveyor's liability rather than to explain the building. A high reading on a conductance meter becomes 'evidence of rising damp', the report recommends further investigation by a specialist contractor, and the reader is left no clearer. In practice the same readings are produced by salts in the plaster, a bridged damp-proof course, raised external ground levels, a leaking gutter or condensation on a cold wall, and those have very different remedies and very different costs.
What happens next
Nothing is booked automatically. If an inspection would settle the question we will say which one and what it costs. If the report is reliable and the work is justified, we will tell you that, whether or not we are the ones who carry it out.
Common questions
- What does the report review cost?
- Nothing. There is no charge for reading your report and no obligation to instruct us afterwards. If the report is sound and the recommendations are proportionate, we will tell you that plainly.
- Which reports can I send?
- RICS home surveys and building surveys, damp and timber reports, specialist property reports, insurance inspection reports, existing quotations, contractor recommendations and any photographs that came with them. PDFs, photographs of printed pages and scans are all fine.
- How long does the review take?
- We aim to come back to you within two working days. Where a report runs to a hundred pages or raises something we want to check against the property, we will tell you that it needs longer rather than skim it.
- Will you simply recommend your own work?
- No. A large share of the reports we read recommend chemical damp proofing that the evidence in the report does not support. Saying so costs us work and is the whole point of the service.
- What happens to my documents?
- They are treated in confidence, seen only by the team reviewing them and never passed to a third party. You can ask us to delete them at any time.