Choosing a survey level
A Level 1 has been offered on a Victorian terrace with a cellar and a bay. What does the Level 1 scope not set out to open or to advise on in the way a Level 3 description does?
The Level 1 scope does not set out to open the fabric, and it does not advise on the cellar, the bay or the repairs in the way a Level 3 description does. Level 1 is a visual overview for a conventional home in good condition. It notes condition and urgent defects and generally does not tell you how to manage them. A Victorian terrace with a cellar and a bay is an older, more complicated house. Level 3 is the description RICS aims at that sort of building. Level 1 was not set out to do that job.
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?
Opening-up is the easy phrase to get wrong. A standard Level 3 is still a visual inspection unless you agree something more. It does not lift every board. What it does set out to do, and Level 1 does not, is explain how an older house is built, discuss repair options, timing and the consequences of not repairing, and spend longer on the roof space and the services. The cellar and the bay are where that difference shows. Level 1 will not grow into that advice after the visit.
Before you instruct, ask the firm what a Level 1 on this terrace will not say about the cellar and the bay. If you need the fuller description, that is a Level 3 instruction, not a hope that the shorter report will stretch. Your solicitor cannot turn a Level 1 into that advice later. The survey you buy is the scope you buy. Services are not tested at either level unless that extra was agreed.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What will a Level 1 on this terrace not say about the cellar and the bay?
- Will the report generally stop short of advice on how to manage defects?
- Are you confirming that neither level opens the fabric unless an extra is agreed?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the firm what Level 1 will not advise on before you accept it.
- Choose Level 3 if you need the fuller description of this older terrace.
- Do not expect either level to open up the cellar or the bay as standard.
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 firm walks the cellar, has Level 1 become a Level 3?
No. Entering a cellar, if it is safe and open, is still inside the level you bought. Level 1 does not pick up Level 3's repair advice because the surveyor used the stairs. The scope stays the scope. Stairs into the cellar do not add Level 3 repair advice.
Can you add bay advice after the report arrives?
Only by a new instruction. The delivered Level 1 will not grow paragraphs of repair advice it was not set out to write. Ask for the level that contains that description before the visit. Bay advice has to be bought in the level, not added afterwards.