Survey costs
You want both a snagging list and a Level 2 on a new house. Why do those remain two fees?
Because a snagging list and a Level 2 are different instructions. A snagging list checks a new home's finish. A Level 2 is a home survey that uses condition ratings. Wanting both means two appointments and two fees. A snagging list is not a set of condition ratings, and the consumer guidance does not publish a bundle that merges the two into one invoice. Paying for one leaves the other unbought.
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?
New homes attract both kinds of look, and buyers hope one visit will do. It will not. Snagging is about incomplete or unsatisfactory items against what the home should have been. Level 2 is a survey product for a conventional home, with the limits of that product. If the cover on the house is NHBC Buildmark, that is a ten-year warranty and insurance product. In the first two years the builder is liable and NHBC guarantees that obligation. In the following eight years there is insurance for damage from defects in specific parts only, not for every snag. None of that wording turns a snagging list into a Level 2 or puts both inside one fee.
Another provider's policy is not Buildmark, so do not assume the brand. A show home is not the plot you are buying. And a snagging list is still not a set of ratings. Ask each firm what they will deliver and what they will charge. Do not ask the Level 2 surveyor to rebadge their report as the snagging list in order to save the second fee, and do not ask a snagging inspector to invent condition ratings they were not instructed to give. There is no national tariff that discounts one because you ordered the other. They remain two invoices because they remain two jobs.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Will this instruction produce condition ratings, a snagging list, or only what we write down?
- Which new-home items would a Level 2 still not treat as snagging?
- Is a second fee due if I later want the product you are not providing?
What are the typical next steps?
- Instruct snagging and Level 2 as separate jobs.
- Do not treat a snagging list as condition ratings.
- Read any warranty for what it actually covers, without guessing a minimum claim.
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 builder will fix snags, is the Level 2 fee wasted?
No. They answer different questions. A builder's willingness to fix finish items is not a Level 2.
Does Buildmark replace the survey invoice?
No. Buildmark is a warranty and insurance product, not the Level 2 you are buying, and another company's policy is not Buildmark.