Choosing a survey level
Should a score out of ten, seen beside a firm that is not using RICS condition ratings, be treated as a verdict on a scale this report must not pretend is rating 1, 2 or 3?
No. A score out of ten, from a firm that is not using RICS condition ratings, is that firm's own scale. It must not be treated as rating 1, 2 or 3. Those marks belong to the RICS condition scale, which this report is not using. A number out of ten can look precise and still mean only what that firm says in its own notes. The survey has not produced RICS condition ratings. The score does not become them by sitting in a similar place on the page. Do not translate the score into a scale the instruction did not use.
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?
Firms outside RICS are free to design a page that looks a bit like a condition survey. A mark out of ten is one such design. It may mean the surveyor liked the kitchen, or that several defects were averaged, or something else entirely. Without the firm's key you cannot know, and with the key you still do not have the RICS scale. Pretending the score is rating 1, 2 or 3 would invent a system this report did not apply.
Ask the firm what the score out of ten actually counts, and ask whether any RICS condition rating was in the instruction. Tell the solicitor this is not a RICS rated report, so it should not be described as one to a lender. If you wanted rating 1, 2 or 3, that is a different instruction from a regulated firm. Do not pencil a conversion in the margin. The page says what it says, on a scale of its own.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What does the firm's own key say the score out of ten measures?
- Was any RICS condition rating part of this instruction?
- Have you refused to relabel the score as rating 1, 2 or 3?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the score only with the firm's own key.
- Tell the solicitor this report is not on the RICS condition scale.
- Do not convert the mark into rating 1, 2 or 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 score is high, is the house in good condition?
Only in the sense that firm means by its own number. A high score out of ten is not rating 1, 2 or 3, because this report is not using RICS condition ratings. You need the firm's key before the number means anything precise. The survey has not produced the RICS scale. A high mark on another scale is not that scale.
Can a lender be told the score is a condition rating?
No. The firm is not using RICS condition ratings, so the score must not be presented as rating 1, 2 or 3. Tell the solicitor, and any lender, what the document actually is. A number out of ten is the firm's device. Relabelling it would pretend a scale this report does not contain.