Choosing a survey level
The PDF is titled HomeBuyer and the firm is not described as RICS-regulated. What RICS product has that title not created by itself?
The title has not created a RICS Home Survey by itself. HomeBuyer on the cover is the firm's wording. The firm is not described as RICS-regulated, and a RICS home survey is the product of a firm that is. The word does not turn this PDF into a Level 2, a Level 3, or any other RICS report. The survey you have is whatever that firm actually did. The title has not enrolled it in the RICS product range.
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 recognise HomeBuyer as language that used to sit on a particular mid-level report. Recognition is not regulation. If the firm does not describe itself as RICS-regulated, you cannot read the standards, the level definitions or the complaint route across from a RICS survey onto this file just because the heading matches a memory. Ask the firm what inspection it carried out and against what terms. The PDF title is not that explanation, and it is not a RICS appointment.
Ask the firm, in writing, who regulated the work and which inspection you were sold. Keep this PDF distinct from a RICS Home Survey when you talk to the solicitor and the lender. Do not tell either of them that a RICS product was provided because the cover says HomeBuyer. If you wanted a RICS survey, this title has not supplied one by itself.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does the firm describe itself as RICS-regulated anywhere in the report or the terms?
- What inspection does the firm say it actually carried out?
- Which RICS product, if any, do the terms name, as against the cover title?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not treat the HomeBuyer title as a RICS product.
- Ask the firm what it is regulated as, and what you were sold.
- Keep this PDF separate from a RICS Home Survey in your papers.
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 headings look like a RICS template, is it one?
Headings can be copied. They do not make the firm RICS-regulated, and this firm is not described that way. The title HomeBuyer has not created a RICS product by itself. Similar boxes are not the standard. Ask what was inspected and who stands behind the work. Layout is not a qualification.
Can the lender be told this is a Level 2 because the title sounds like one?
No. A Level 2 is a RICS home survey from a RICS-regulated firm. This PDF is titled HomeBuyer and the firm is not described as RICS-regulated. The sound of the word has not created that product. Tell the lender what the document actually is. Do not upgrade the cover line into a level.