Choosing a survey level
Before you instruct, what should you ask the firm about access to the loft, the cellar and any outbuilding that is in the sale?
Ask whether the loft, the cellar and every outbuilding included in the sale can be entered on the day, who will unlock them, and what the report will say if a hatch, a door or a ladder is missing. Ask whether the fee assumes that access. A space that cannot be entered is not inspected. Those three questions stop you discovering the limit only when the PDF says the loft was closed, the cellar was locked, or the garage was too full to walk into.
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?
Access is part of the instruction, not a courtesy on the morning. The firm can only report what it can reach safely. A loft without a hatch, a cellar with no light, or an outbuilding the seller still uses as a store may be excluded, and the honest mark is that they were not inspected. You should hear that rule before you pay, including who provides keys and whether a locked room is your problem or a reason to rearrange. Do not leave it as a surprise.
Write the access list into the instruction: loft, cellar, and each outbuilding that is in the sale. Ask your solicitor to make sure the seller will leave them open. If something cannot be seen, decide then whether to delay the visit. Afterwards, do not fill a blank with a guess. The survey will not have inspected a building it could not enter, however long the rest of the house took.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Will you enter the loft, the cellar and each outbuilding that is in the sale?
- Who is providing keys, a ladder and a clear path on the day?
- What will the report say about any of those spaces you cannot enter?
What are the typical next steps?
- Confirm loft, cellar and outbuilding access before you instruct.
- Ask the seller to leave those spaces open.
- Treat any space that stays shut as not inspected.
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 agent has a key, is access already solved?
Not until you know which doors that key opens. An agency key may not include the cellar, the loft hatch or a shed in the sale. Ask the firm what they still need on the day. The key question is which of those three spaces it actually opens.
Does a photograph of the loft replace entry?
No. A photograph, whoever took it, is not the surveyor entering the loft. If they cannot get in, that part is not inspected. Agree access rather than relying on someone else's picture. Only the surveyor going in counts as that space being inspected.