Choosing a survey level
The quote uses the words HomeBuyer and the house is a heavily altered Victorian. What should you ask about whether that product is the building survey?
Ask whether the product named HomeBuyer is a Level 2 home survey or the Level 3 building survey. The word on the quote is a label firms still use for the mid-level report. It does not, by itself, mean you have been offered the building survey. On a heavily altered Victorian the level matters, because openings and roofs may have been changed. Ask which level the quote is, what it includes, and what it leaves out on a house of this age.
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?
HomeBuyer has been used for years as a name for what RICS now places at Level 2. A building survey is the Level 3 product, with a wider discussion of risk on altered buildings. A firm that offers Level 3 can still send a quote that uses the older word. That is why you ask, rather than assuming the firm has upgraded the product. The terms are where the level should be named. An email that says the surveyor is thorough does not rename the product.
Put the question in writing: is this quote a Level 2 Home Survey or a Level 3 building survey, and how will the altered Victorian be covered. Ask what happens at sealed hatches, extensions and removed walls. If the answer is Level 2 and you wanted the building survey, say so before you pay. Do not discover the level from the report's title page after the visit. The house will not become simpler because the quote used a familiar word. The product is whatever the terms say it is.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is this quote a Level 2 home survey or a Level 3 building survey?
- What will be outside the scope on this altered Victorian?
- Where in the terms is the level named, rather than only in the headline?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask which level the HomeBuyer wording actually means.
- Get the answer in the terms before you instruct.
- Do not assume a Level 3 firm has quoted Level 3.
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 fee is high, does that make it a building survey?
No. Price is not the product name. Ask whether the quote is the Level 2 often still called HomeBuyer, or the Level 3 building survey. A high fee can reflect the house, the travel or the firm. Only the terms tell you the level. Ask that before you instruct.
Should you reject HomeBuyer wording on every Victorian?
Not automatically. You should ask what product it is. Some altered houses are inspected at Level 2 with a clear scope, and some need Level 3. The quote's word is not the decision. The question is whether this product is the building survey you think you are buying.