Survey costs
Two damp firms quote different fees after the same survey. What must match before those fees can be compared?
The work they have priced must match. Before two damp fees can be compared, each firm should be pricing the same rooms, comparable tests, a similar visit length and a similar written report. If one includes salts sampling and small opening-up, and the other is a brief meter visit, the fees buy different investigations. The home survey did not set either fee. There is no official damp price that makes the two numbers comparable when the scopes are not.
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 survey that recommends a damp investigation has finished its own job at the recommendation. It has not appointed the specialist and it has not audited their menus. Firms legitimately package the work differently. One may return after a drying period. One may comment only on rising moisture and refuse plumbing leaks. One may travel further. None of that is standardised into a single fee by the consumer guidance, which describes survey levels rather than specialists' rate cards. Write down the rooms, the symptoms and the questions, and send that same note to both firms.
When the returns come in, line up inclusions rather than headlines. A lower fee that excludes the wall the survey actually worried about is not a bargain. A higher fee that answers the question may be the relevant one. You still do not have a national tariff to appeal to if you dislike both. You have two offers. Accept one, renegotiate the scope, or ask a third firm the same question. Do not average them and deduct the average from the purchase price as though the original survey had calculated a damp budget.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which rooms and symptoms should both damp firms be told about?
- What would be outside the original survey even after they report?
- Are you willing to read their scopes, as a separate question?
What are the typical next steps?
- Send both firms the same written question.
- Compare inclusions before you compare fees.
- Do not average unlike damp quotes into a deduction.
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 firms inspected last year, can I compare those old fees to today?
Only with fresh scopes. An old fee is not a national price, and the survey has not updated it.
Does the pricier firm automatically match the survey's concern?
No. Price and relevance are different. Read what they will inspect.