Seller-side surveys
If you are selling in England, do you have to pay for every specialist the buyer’s survey names?
No. The survey is advice to the buyer. RICS tells the reader to get quotations before they are legally committed. It does not send the invoice to the seller. A seller may choose to pay, or to reduce the price, or to refuse. The contract, not the rating, decides. There is no national rule that an EICR, a drain camera or a damp opening is the seller’s bill.
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?
In Scotland the Home Report is the seller’s pack, and mygov tells the buyer to get estimates and that they can walk away at that stage if they do not want the home. That still does not say the seller must commission every extra the buyer later dreams up. Extra openings need the owner’s consent because it is still their house.
If you are the buyer, ask your solicitor before you demand that the seller pays. If you are the seller, do not ignore a real defect, and do not pay for a fishing trip with no scope. Prices are the specialist’s quote. None is printed by RICS.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which investigation is necessary before commitment, and which is optional?
- What access would a specialist need that you cannot authorise?
- Are you instructing me to bill the seller? You should not.
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor who is being asked to pay, and for what scope.
- Do not open the seller’s floors without consent.
- If the seller refuses, decide whether you will pay, renegotiate, or leave.
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
Does a rating 3 transfer the bill?
No. It tells you the element is serious or urgent. Who pays is the negotiation.
Must a Scottish seller pay for a drain camera on top of the Home Report?
Not from the Home Report page. That camera is an extra. Access still has to be agreed.