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Choosing a survey level

Does “chartered surveyor” on a website mean you are buying an RICS Home Survey?

Not by itself. An RICS Home Survey is a Level 1, 2 or 3 done to the Home Survey Standard by a firm regulated by RICS. Someone can be chartered and still be offering a different product, or a valuation only. Ask which standard this instruction follows and who you complain to.

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?

The Residential Property Surveyors Association is a separate body with its own standards. Membership is not regulation by RICS. A competent person can work there. It is a different report, and a lender may or may not accept it. This page does not speak for any lender. Ask the lender if their acceptance matters.

Neither route sees through plaster. Do not pay extra for letters after a name without knowing the product. There is no RICS tariff and no RPSA tariff on this page. Compare scope, complaint route and whether a valuation is mixed in.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Is this firm regulated by RICS for home surveys?
  • Which level, and which document will I receive?
  • Who handles a complaint about this report?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Get the standard and the level in writing before you instruct.
  2. If a lender must accept the report, ask the lender, not the advert.
  3. Do not assume a valuation visit was a Level 2 because the valuer is chartered.

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

Is a student member signing the report?

Ask who is responsible and whether the firm is regulated. The website line is not the answer.

Can a non-RICS report use condition ratings 1, 2 and 3?

It might copy the numbers. They are only the RICS definitions if the report is an RICS Home Survey. Read the definitions printed in it.

Sources