Choosing a survey level
After a visit you were given verbal comments and no written report. What would a solicitor have to read if a question arose later?
Nothing written. A solicitor would have no report to read. Verbal comments exist in the conversation, and perhaps in your memory of it, and they are not a document that can be put on the file. If a question arose later about what was said of a crack, a roof or a piece of paperwork, the solicitor would be looking for a report and would not find one. There is no page to interpret, no scope to check, and no wording both sides can be shown. The visit, without a report, has left the file empty.
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?
Spoken remarks are easy to half-remember. You may recall a tone and miss the qualification said in the same breath. A solicitor cannot advise on a sentence they cannot see, and they cannot send an agent a transcript that was never made. A note you wrote afterwards is your note, not the firm's report. The gap is not a delay in typing. It is the absence of the document the purchase can be shown.
Ask the firm, now, whether a written report is part of what you paid for, and when it will be issued. If the service was only a walk-round with comments, decide with your solicitor whether that is enough for this purchase. Do not tell a lender you have a survey if all you have is a conversation. If you need a document, instruct a written home survey with terms that say a report will be produced. Until that exists, the solicitor has nothing of this visit to read.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is a written report included, or were the comments the whole service?
- What, exactly, would be on the file today if a solicitor asked tonight?
- Who may rely on words that were never put in a report?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask for the written report if one was promised.
- Do not describe a conversation to the solicitor as a survey.
- Instruct a written report if this purchase needs a document.
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 record the phone call, does the solicitor then have a report?
They have a recording of comments, which is better than a memory and still not a report. A report has a scope, a client and findings set out as the firm's document. A tape of a chat does not become that. Ask for the written report, or instruct one.
Can the agent pass the verbal comments on as the survey?
They can repeat what they heard. That repetition is still not a document a solicitor can read as the survey. Hearsay of a visit does not fill the file. If a question arises later, the missing report is still missing.