Choosing a survey level
The Level 2 visit found non-standard construction and the firm says Level 3 would have been the better product. Can the same visit be relabelled as a Level 3?
No. The same visit cannot be relabelled as a Level 3. The Level 2 visit found non-standard construction, and the firm says Level 3 would have been the better product. That advice fits what RICS describes: Level 2 is aimed at conventional homes, and Level 3 is the more detailed survey for unusual or altered buildings. The inspection that already happened was done to the Level 2 scope. Calling the same notes a Level 3 would pretend a wider inspection had been carried out. A better product is a new instruction. It is not a new cover on the old 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?
Non-standard construction is exactly the sort of finding that shows the lower level was a poor fit. The firm can say so after the visit because the construction became clear on the day. What they cannot do is stretch the morning they have already spent into the Level 3 service you did not buy. Level 3 is a longer look at a wider set of issues. It is still a visual survey unless opening-up was agreed, but it is not the same visit.
Ask the firm, in writing, what a Level 3 would add on this house and whether they will credit or simply start again. Keep the Level 2 as the Level 2, limits included. Tell the solicitor the construction is non-standard and that the present report is not a Level 3. Do not send a lender the same PDF under a new title. The visit found the problem of fit. It did not become the other product.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What non-standard features made Level 3 the better product in your view?
- Which Level 3 tasks were not part of the visit you have already done?
- Will any further survey be a new instruction rather than a relabel?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep this report labelled as the Level 2 that was instructed.
- Ask the firm what a separate Level 3 would actually add.
- Do not send the same visit out under a Level 3 title.
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 you pay the fee difference, does the old visit become Level 3?
Not unless the firm carries out the Level 3 inspection and says so in a new report. Paying the difference in price does not widen a visit that has finished. The Level 2 found non-standard construction. Money does not relabel that finding as the more detailed product. A further survey is still a further survey.
Can the Level 2 text be stapled into a Level 3 folder?
A folder does not change the inspection. The pages remain a Level 2 on a building the firm now says deserved Level 3. Stapling them to a longer template would mis-describe the visit. If you want the other product, instruct it. Do not dress this one as something it was not.