Choosing a survey level
The email says building survey and never says Level 3. What should you ask before you pay?
Confirm Level 3 in writing before you pay. Building Survey is the old name for Level 3, but an email that never uses the current name has not yet shown which product the fee buys. Ask the firm to state that the instruction is an RICS Home Survey Level 3, and to say what that visit will and will not open, before any money moves.
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?
Level 3 is the survey aimed at an older, altered or unusual building, or at a home where major works are planned. It is not a magic phrase, and full structural survey is not a level at all. The three current names date from 1 March 2021, so a firm still using only the retired title should be willing to map it onto Level 3 in the engagement letter. If they hesitate, you do not yet know whether you are buying Level 3, a Level 2, or a bespoke note that is neither.
Ask what happens at the roof space and the chambers where it is safe to look, and ask them to say plainly that services are looked at visually and are not safety-tested. No level guarantees concealed parts. The fee is variable and there is no national tariff, so the price in the email means little until the level is named. Pay against a letter that says Level 3, not against a nostalgic subject line.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Will you amend the email so the product is named as Level 3?
- Which parts of this house are why you are offering Level 3 rather than Level 2?
- Will the letter say that services are visual and not safety-tested?
What are the typical next steps?
- Get Level 3 written on the instruction before you pay.
- Ask what the visit will not open or test.
- Do not treat the old name alone as a booking.
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
Is a building survey automatically more thorough than every Level 2?
Only if it really is a Level 3. The old words are not themselves a wider scope.
Should you accept a letter that says equivalent to Level 3?
Ask them to name Level 3. Equivalent is not the current product name.