Choosing a survey level

Do the solicitor’s searches replace the home survey, or the other way round?

Neither replaces the other. Searches and the title are legal. A home survey is the condition of the building. An EPC is an energy model valid, when required, for the period GOV.UK states. A flood check, a mining search and a lease are not condition ratings. Paying for one and skipping the others leaves a different gap.

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?

Buyers try to save the survey fee because the solicitor “does searches”. Searches do not look at the roof timbers. Surveyors do not check whether a covenant bans a satellite dish. RICS does not publish a fee that bundles both, because they are different professions.

Read both before exchange in England and Wales. In Scotland, read the Home Report, which already includes a single survey, and still let the solicitor do the legal work. Do not treat a clean search as a rating 1. Searches do not open the roof, and a survey does not check whether a covenant bans the use you have in mind.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which of your comments came from the building, and which from a database?
Are you expecting me to treat your report as a local search? I should not.
What will you not see even if the searches are clean?

What are the typical next steps?

Budget a survey and a solicitor. They are not substitutes.
Send environmental database printouts to the solicitor even if the survey mentions them.
Do not ask the surveyor to explain the title register.

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 chancel or a mining search inside Level 3?

Only if this firm agreed to buy that search. A desktop note is not the solicitor’s official search. Ask who is buying which one.

Does a clear environmental search mean no damp?

No. Damp is in the walls. The search does not meter them.