What is the difference between an RICS survey and a non-RICS survey?

What does “RICS survey” actually mean?

It means the firm is regulated by RICS and the report is an RICS Home Survey at Level 1, 2 or 3, done to the Home Survey Standard. The levels are defined, the condition ratings are defined, and there is a published scope so you can see what was not inspected. “Chartered surveyor” in ordinary speech is not a substitute for reading the cover. Ask the firm to confirm they are regulated by RICS and which level this instruction is.

RICS is not the only route by which someone competent might look at a house. It is the route that produces this particular family of reports. If you are comparing advice on this website, the definitions we cite are the RICS ones unless a page says otherwise.

What is a survey that is not an RICS Home Survey?

The Residential Property Surveyors Association describes itself as a not-for-profit body for independent residential surveyors, with a code of conduct and reporting standards of its own. A member may be experienced and may produce a careful report. That report is not an RICS Level 2 or Level 3 unless it also meets the RICS standard and the firm is regulated by RICS. Some people may belong to more than one body. The document in your hand is what matters, not the stack of logos on the van.

Other reports exist with no association at all. Some are thorough. Some are a walk-through with no standard behind them. This page does not rank associations and does not say one is cheaper or better. It says they are not the same product, so you should know which one you are buying.

What should you ask before you instruct a non-RICS surveyor?

• What standard is this report written to, and can you send the scope before I pay?
• Do you use condition ratings? If so, whose definitions?
• Who regulates you, and where does a complaint go?
• Will my lender accept this report if they ask for one? (Ask the lender. Do not take the surveyor’s hope as the lender’s rule.)
• What will you not open, lift or test?

If the answers are specific, you can compare the scope with a Level 2 or Level 3. If the answers are “we’re more thorough than RICS”, that is a slogan. Thorough compared with which level, and on what written scope, is the question.

How do you read a non-RICS report against these guides?

Use the guides for the building defect, not for a rating number the report may not share. A paragraph about a flat roof is still a paragraph about a flat roof. A “traffic light” that is not the RICS definition is not a condition rating 3, even if it is red. Quote the words they used when you talk to a contractor. Do not translate them into RICS ratings they did not apply.

Whoever inspected, they did not become your solicitor, your lender or your insurer by writing the report. Hidden defects can remain hidden. The standard tells you what you were entitled to expect them to look at. If there is no standard, that expectation is whatever the contract says.

Common questions