Survey costs
What did the visit record about a mortgage valuation, about a crack, and about the Level 3 that would describe the crack and that this valuation is not?
The mortgage valuation recorded a valuation, and it may have noted a crack. It did not record the description a Level 3 would give, because this valuation is not that Level 3. MoneyHelper is clear that a mortgage valuation is not a structural survey. A crack mentioned in passing is not a diagnosis of cause, direction or repair. Those are the sorts of points a Level 3 is instructed to describe. They stay undescribed here. The valuation has done its own job and has not done the other one.
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?
Valuers look for the lender, often briefly, and a crack may be remarked on because it affects what they are willing to assume. A remark is not the systematic description a Level 3 surveyor writes: which element, how the crack relates to openings, whether it is mirrored, what further investigation it needs. Treating the valuation sentence as that description over-reads a different product. The Level 3 has not happened. Nothing in the valuation tests the crack as a structural survey would, and this page will not invent the missing description.
If you need the crack described, instruct a Level 3 and point the firm at it. Tell the solicitor the valuation is not that survey. Do not ask the lender to expand the valuation into a Level 3 after the event. MoneyHelper's distinction is the one to keep. Use the valuation for the lender's process and the Level 3, once it exists, for the crack. Until then the crack remains only noted, not investigated.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What, exactly, did the valuation say about the crack?
- Has a Level 3 been instructed to describe it?
- Is anyone treating the valuation sentence as that description?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the mortgage valuation separate from a Level 3.
- Instruct a Level 3 if the crack needs a proper description.
- Do not ask the lender to relabel the valuation as a structural survey.
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
Did the valuation describe the crack as a Level 3 would?
No. A mortgage valuation is not a structural survey, and it is not the Level 3 that would describe the crack. A note that a crack exists is not that description. Cause and repair stay outside what this valuation decided. The Level 3 has not been done.
Is the valuation a structural survey of that crack?
No. MoneyHelper is clear that a mortgage valuation is not a structural survey. Noting a crack does not change the product. The visit served the lender. It has not investigated the crack in the way a Level 3 is for. That investigation remains outstanding if you still want it.