Choosing a survey level
Before you instruct, what should you ask about which specialists the firm will not include, such as electrics, gas and drains?
Ask which specialists the firm will not include, and name electrics, gas and drains in that question. Before you instruct, the point is to hear that a home survey does not test those services. The firm should say they are outside the visit, not folded into the fee as silent tests. You are asking for the boundary of the instruction. The survey has not happened, and it will not become an electrical, gas or drain test by being booked.
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?
Electrics need an electrical inspection, gas needs a gas engineer, and drains need a drainage contractor if they are to be tested. A home survey looks at what is visible and says when a specialist is the next step. Firms sometimes let a buyer assume the fee includes those tests because the questions were never asked. Asking what they will not include prevents that. The answer you want is a list, not a shrug.
Write the question into your enquiry and keep the reply with the terms. If electrics, gas or drains matter at this house, budget separate instructions rather than hoping the survey will stretch. Tell the solicitor later, if it comes up, that those tests were never in the survey. Do not tick a lender form as if the home survey had tested services it was never going to test.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which specialists will you not include, in particular electrics, gas and drains?
- Will the report say those services were not tested, rather than imply they were?
- What would a separate instruction look like if I need one of those tests?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask, before you instruct, which specialists are outside the fee.
- Name electrics, gas and drains in that question.
- Arrange separate tests if you need those services examined.
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 surveyor lifts a manhole, has the drain been included?
Lifting a cover, if it happens, is a look at a chamber. It is not the drain specialist the firm should tell you they will not include. Before you instruct, ask that question so a lifted lid is not later described as a drain test. The home survey still will not have tested the run as a drainage contractor would.
Does a new consumer unit mean electrics are in the survey?
No. A new unit is a thing the surveyor may see. Seeing it is not an electrical test, and it is one of the specialist areas to ask about before you instruct. Ask the firm to say electrics are not included. Do not infer a test from the age of the board.