Choosing a survey level
The seller has offered the EPC as if it were the survey. What does an energy certificate not inspect in the structure?
An energy certificate does not inspect the structure. Offered as if it were the survey, the EPC still only rates energy performance and lists recommendations. It does not examine foundations, roofs, walls, floors or the frame of the house in the way a home survey does. It is not a Level 2, and it is not a Level 3. The seller's offer does not change the document. What it does not inspect is the structural fabric: movement, decay, coverings, and the other condition questions a survey is for. You have been handed an energy paper.
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?
Green Deal paperwork, where it appears, is about energy-improvement finance and measures, not about walking the building for defects. An EPC chart can sit in the same pack and still say nothing reliable about a cracked lintel or a sagging ridge. RICS home surveys are the product that describes condition within a defined level. Treating the certificate as that product skips the inspection. The seller may be speaking casually. The papers are not casual. If you accept the EPC as the survey, you accept not having the structure looked at.
Commission the level of home survey you actually wanted, and keep the EPC as the energy certificate. Tell the agent or the seller, plainly, that the certificate is not the survey. Do not send an EPC to a lender and call it a structural report. The solicitor can hold both, labelled correctly. The practical test is simple: if you want to know about the structure, the energy certificate is the document that does not inspect it, and you still need a survey.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Have you been asked to treat an EPC as if it were your survey?
- Which structural elements does an energy certificate not inspect?
- What level of home survey, if any, has actually been instructed?
What are the typical next steps?
- Refuse the EPC as a substitute for the home survey.
- Commission the survey level you need for the structure.
- Keep the energy certificate labelled as an energy certificate only.
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 EPC mentions walls and roofs, has it surveyed them?
No. Mentions in an energy model are about assumed construction and energy, not a condition inspection. The certificate has not surveyed the structure in the way a home survey does. The structural condition of the house sits outside an energy certificate.
Does a previous Level 2 for an earlier sale replace this?
Only if you have that report and accept its date and its limits. The seller's EPC still does not inspect the structure, and it does not become yesterday's survey by being offered today. Today's offer is still only an EPC.