Choosing a survey level
The firm describes a site time and the house has an annexe. Why should you not assume that time includes the annexe?
You should not assume that site time includes the annexe because the firm has described a time, not a list of buildings. An annexe is extra accommodation, often with its own entrance, roof and services, and it can take as long as a small flat. Unless the quote says the annexe is inside those hours, the hours belong to the house as the firm understood it. The survey has not, by a bare site time, promised to inspect the annexe. Assuming it is included is how a limitation appears in the finished report.
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?
Site time is a planning figure. It is eaten by whatever the instruction names. If the instruction names the house and is silent on the annexe, the surveyor can spend the stated time in the house and mark the annexe as not inspected, or not mention it at all. A second kitchen, a separate meter, or a linking door does not donate spare minutes. Access, photographs and writing-up for another unit are a different slice of the day.
Write to the firm and ask whether the stated site time includes the annexe, and whether the fee does too. If the answer is no, ask what extra time and fee would include it, and what will be excluded even then, such as a test of services. A home survey does not by itself test electrics or gas. Agree the buildings before the day. Do not discover the annexe in the limitations after the visit is over.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does the site time you describe include the annexe, or only the main house?
- If the annexe is included, what of it will you inspect and what is outside scope?
- If it is not included, what extra time would you need to report on it?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask whether the stated site time includes the annexe.
- If it does not, agree an extra fee and time before the visit.
- Treat an unmentioned annexe as not inspected, not as clear.
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 annexe has its own front door, is it outside the time by definition?
Not by definition. Its own door shows it is separate accommodation, which is why you must ask. The firm might already have included it, or it might not. A separate door does not answer the question. Only the firm's confirmation puts the annexe inside the stated site time.
Can you assume a second kitchen was included because you have already agreed the fee?
No. An agreed fee covers what the quote described. A second kitchen in the annexe is not included merely because the fee was accepted. Ask the firm to say whether that kitchen, and the rest of the annexe, sits inside the site time. Silence is not inclusion.