Renegotiating or walking away

Two quotes for the same survey paragraph are far apart. What if one includes VAT and the other does not say?

Ask which quote includes VAT, and ask whether both describe the same work. Do not assume a rate, and do not subtract one total from the other and call the difference the value of the defect. Until the basis matches, you do not have two prices for one job.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

A wide gap often means the specifications differ: one builder has allowed for stripping and protection, the other has priced only the visible repair, or one total is before VAT and the other is after. This page does not state a VAT rate. The question on the paper is enough: does this total include VAT, and what work is included? RICS tells a buyer facing rating 3 to get written quotations before legal commitment. A quotation that hides the tax treatment or the scope is not yet a figure you can put in a price request.

Send both quotes back and ask each firm to confirm the same scope and to say whether VAT is included. Then decide, with your solicitor, whether to seek a reduction, ask the seller to do the work, or walk away before you are committed. The what to do now note does not tell you to average unlike quotes, and it does not make the higher or the lower one the seller’s bill. There is no standard deduction. A rating is not an invoice.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Do both quotations describe the defect you reported?
Which of them, if either, states whether VAT is included?
What would you want in writing before this figure is used in a price talk?

What are the typical next steps?

Ask each contractor whether VAT is included.
Do not invent a VAT rate to force the totals to match.
Do not send the gap between unlike quotes to the seller as a demand.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

If both quotes include VAT and still differ, what then?

Then compare the work, not only the tax line. A remaining gap can be method, access or specification. You still should not average them into a fake precise loss.

Does rating 2 require the same pair of quotes?

Rating 2 is not the serious or urgent category. Get the quotes you need for your decision. Do not pretend RICS has set a tender process for every rating 2.