Survey costs
The firm will not promise which day the PDF will arrive. Is a faster turnaround a figure RICS has set?
No. A faster turnaround is not a figure RICS has set. The firm sets when the report is issued, and the guidance does not publish a surcharge for speed or a promised day. If this firm will not name the day the PDF arrives, that is their timetable. It is not a missing national extra you can demand to see on a tariff. Any quicker service, where they offer one, is their own commercial term, not an RICS line.
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?
Buyers often confuse time on site with time to write. A visit can be done and the report can still take the firm as long as their desk allows. The consumer guidance does not convert that gap into a priced menu of ordinary and express delivery. There is no national tariff for turnaround. Chasing a date is reasonable. Inventing an RICS late fee, or an RICS express fee, is not. Ask the firm what their terms already say about timing, and whether a quicker slot exists on their own price list, which is the only price list that can apply.
A refusal to promise the day is not evidence that the survey was incomplete, and it is not a discount you calculate yourself. If delay actually matters because of a deadline, tell the firm the deadline when you instruct them, and accept the answer they give. Do not tell the seller that RICS has priced a faster PDF which this firm is withholding. Nothing of that kind has been priced. The product you bought is the survey. Delivery follows the firm's process unless a written term says otherwise.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What do your terms already say about how long the report takes?
- Is a quicker appointment something you offer, and on what basis?
- Does silence on the day mean the inspection itself is unfinished?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the firm for their own timing terms.
- Do not invent an RICS express surcharge.
- Give the firm any real deadline when you instruct them.
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 the PDF is late, has RICS set compensation?
No. RICS has not set a turnaround figure or a compensation figure. Look at the firm's terms.
Can I withhold the survey fee until a day is promised?
Only if your contract says so. The guidance does not create that right.