Seller-side surveys
The seller stayed in every room during the inspection. Does their presence turn the report into a survey they commissioned?
No. Their presence does not turn the report into a survey they commissioned. The seller stayed in every room during the inspection. That is access and company. The client is the person named in the terms, which is the person who instructed the firm. Standing beside the surveyor does not move that name, does not let the seller set the findings, and does not make their comments part of the evidence unless the report clearly records them as comments. In England and Wales this private instruction is not a Scottish Home Report. A Home Report is the product a purchaser there is pointed 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?
Sellers stay for all sorts of ordinary reasons: security, pets, a wish to explain a crack. Explanation can help the surveyor ask for papers. It does not change the duty. The report is owed to the client under the terms. Showing the seller the rooms being inspected does not make the seller the client, and it does not give the seller reliance they were not given in writing. If a comment from them appears, it should be identifiable as theirs. The condition notes remain the surveyor’s. Presence is not commissioning.
Read the terms for the client’s name, and ask the firm to say so if any seller comment has been written into the text. Tell the solicitor the report is the one you instructed, not a survey the seller commissioned by being there. Do not let a later argument treat the PDF as the seller’s document because they watched it being made. The instruction is what makes a client. Attendance does not.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Who is named as the client in the terms for this visit?
- Which seller comments, if any, did you record as their comments?
- Did the seller’s presence change the instruction at all?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the report as the survey that was instructed, not as the seller’s.
- Check the client’s name in the terms.
- Ask the firm to mark any sentence that is only the seller’s comment.
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 seller paid half the fee, did they commission it?
Only if the terms name them as a client. Splitting a bill does not, by itself, commission the survey or create reliance. The question here is presence, and presence does not do that either. Read the engagement letter. A seller who stayed in every room is still not the client unless the letter says so.
Does the seller watching mean they must accept the findings?
No. Watching is not agreement, and it is not commissioning. The report was written for the client. The seller can dispute a finding afterwards, which is a negotiation, not a rewrite of who instructed the survey. Their presence in the rooms did not turn the report into theirs.