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Choosing a survey level

Does paying for Level 3 mean the electrics and the gas have been tested?

No. Across the levels, services are a visual inspection. The Level 3 description says the surveyor does not test the safety of the electrics, the gas or other energy sources. Level 1 is explicit that there are no tests of the fabric or the services. A higher fee does not buy an EICR or a Gas Safe record.

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 survey can still rate what it sees: a damaged consumer unit, a scorch mark, a flue that looks wrong. That rating is not the electrician’s C1, C2 or C3 codes, and it is not a landlord’s gas certificate. GOV.UK’s EICR guidance is for landlords. An owner-occupier seller is not in breach of it merely because the survey was uneasy. If you need a test, instruct the right person and ask the price.

Do not tell a lender the Level 3 “passed the electrics”. Do not tell a buyer of your own later home that either. There is no RICS bundle price for survey plus EICR plus gas. If the quote includes them, it will say so in words. A seller’s condition pack is still not those tests.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Are services visual only on this instruction?
  • What did you see that a specialist should look at?
  • Is an EICR or a gas check inside the fee?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Book the specialist tests separately if you need them.
  2. Do not read a services rating as a certificate.
  3. Keep the landlord EICR rules for landlords.

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 Level 2 test more than Level 3?

No. Neither is an EICR. Level 3 is a more detailed look at the building, not a different electrical instrument.

Is a new consumer unit a pass?

It is a newer unit. It is not a test of the circuits behind it.

Sources