Choosing a survey level
A Level 1 report does not quote moisture-meter readings. Does that mean the surveyor ignored damp, or that the Level 1 scope is visual?
The missing moisture-meter readings mean the Level 1 scope is visual, not that damp was ignored. A Level 1 report is a visual inspection, and this one does not quote meter readings because that is outside what this product sets out to publish. The surveyor can still describe staining, a tide mark or a smell that was seen. What was not done is a moisture-meter survey. Absence of numbers is the scope. It is not a statement that damp was looked for and dismissed.
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?
Level 1 is the shortest of the standard home surveys. It is there to flag visible matters, not to investigate damp with instruments and then publish the figures. A surveyor who stays inside that scope is following the product, not skipping a stain they walked past. If the report describes damp marks in words and gives no readings, the words are the finding. The absent numbers are not a coded all-clear, and they are not evidence the marks were refused.
If you wanted meter readings, that is a different instruction, usually a Level 2 or a specific damp inspection, not a paragraph to be inserted into this Level 1. Tell the solicitor the report is visual, so a lender or a seller who asks for moisture figures needs a further survey. Do not argue that damp was ignored because a table of readings is missing. Argue from the stains the report actually describes, if it describes any.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is this report a Level 1 whose scope stays visual?
- Which damp signs did you describe in words without a meter figure?
- Have you left readings out because of scope, not because damp was cleared?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the missing figures as the Level 1 scope.
- Use any written damp description, not the absent numbers.
- Instruct a fuller survey if you need meter readings.
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
Can the surveyor add meter readings to this Level 1 later?
Adding a moisture-meter survey changes the job. It is not a correction to a Level 1 that was instructed as a visual report. If you want readings, agree a further inspection. Do not treat silence in this PDF as a promise to measure later.
Does every Level 2 quote a moisture number where Level 1 does not?
No. A Level 2 is a broader product and may include meter use where the surveyor thinks it helps. It does not guarantee a number in every room. This Level 1 simply has not quoted readings, which matches a visual scope.