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Can you compare a single fee quoted for Level 2/3 with a quote that names one level?

No. A single figure beside Level 2/3 does not tell you which service you would be buying, so you cannot compare it with a Level 2 quote or a Level 3 quote. Ask the firm to name one level and to price that level. RICS does not publish a price for a slash between products.

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?

Fee comparisons only work when the product matches. Level 2 and Level 3 take different time and produce different reports. A middle number might be a Level 2 with extras, a Level 3 with things missing, or a template that was never edited. You do not know. The consumer guide’s descriptive range is not a way to average the two levels into one acceptable fee. Variable cost does not mean a blended label.

Ask for two quotes if you are genuinely choosing between levels, or one quote once you have chosen. Include the address, VAT, valuation, and what happens if they cannot get in. Do not pay the slashed figure and hope the report explains itself. There is no RICS formula that says a Level 2/3 costs halfway between two other firms. Halfway between unlike jobs is not a market. It is a muddle.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Please reissue this as a Level 2 fee or a Level 3 fee. Which is it?
  • What is excluded from the number as printed?
  • If you offer both levels, what changes in the work, not only in the price?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Do not compare unlike quotes.
  2. Insist on one named level before you judge the fee.
  3. Ignore any claim that the slash is an RICS price.

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 they later send a Level 2 report, can they keep a Level 3 fee?

Only if you agreed that fee for that product. If the paperwork was ambiguous, ask your solicitor before you treat it as agreed.

Does a valuation justify the slash?

No. A valuation is an add-on to be named. It does not weld Level 2 and Level 3 together.

Sources