Choosing a survey level
The flat is one unit in a large block. Why can the time on site not include a full inspection of every other flat's demised space?
Because the instruction is this flat, not the inside of every other demise. Time on site can cover the flat you are buying and the common parts the surveyor is allowed to enter. It cannot include a full inspection of every other flat's demised space. Those homes are not the property, and the surveyor has no right to walk them. Hours in the block are not hours inside the neighbours. Keys to one flat do not open the rest.
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 large block multiplies roofs, stacks, lobbies and services, which is why people expect a long visit. Length still does not create access. Demised space is the part each lease gives to that flat. The surveyor sees it only where the instruction and the keys allow, which is yours. A glimpse from a balcony or a stain on a common ceiling is not a full inspection of the flat next door. The time is spent on what can be entered.
Ask the firm what the visit will include: your demise, which common parts, and which roofs or garages. Ask what it will not include, namely other flats. Tell the solicitor that a block survey is not a tour of every leasehold interior. If a particular neighbouring defect worries you, it needs that owner's permission and a separate arrangement. It will not appear just because the surveyor stayed all morning.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which spaces will the time on site actually cover?
- Why can that time not include every other flat's demised interior?
- Which common parts do you expect to enter, and which stay shut?
What are the typical next steps?
- Expect the visit to cover your flat and the common parts that can be entered.
- Do not expect a full inspection of other demised flats.
- Ask the firm to say so before you instruct.
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 managing agent offers a roof key, are the other flats included?
A roof key adds the roof, if that is what it opens. It does not open every flat. Time on site still cannot include a full inspection of other demised space. Common plant and your own rooms are a different list from the neighbours' homes. Do not read a roof visit as a block-wide interior survey.
Does a longer appointment create a duty to knock on every door?
No. A longer appointment spends more time on the instruction. It does not create a right of entry to other demises, and it does not turn those homes into the property being surveyed. The reason the time cannot include them is access and scope, not the clock.