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Survey costs

Who do you ask for the cost of a specialist report the survey has recommended?

Ask the specialist. The home surveyor has told you an electrician, a structural engineer, a drainage firm, a timber specialist or a roofer should look. That firm’s written fee is the cost of the look. A repair price comes after they have looked, if a repair is needed. The survey does not contain either number.

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?

Email two firms the survey paragraph and ask what they will do and what they will charge to report. Ask whether the fee is credited against later works. A fee that is refundable only if you buy their repair is not an independent report. You may still use it, but you should know what it is.

If the lender wants the report in a particular form, ask the specialist if they will provide that form before you pay them. A beautiful PDF the lender will not read is a wasted fee. There is no RICS price list for these follow-on reports. Anyone who quotes you a universal engineer’s fee is guessing.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Who exactly should I instruct for this paragraph?
  • What question should their report answer?
  • What access must I arrange with the seller?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Send the paragraph, not a dramatic summary.
  2. Get the fee and the scope before they visit.
  3. Do not deduct a guessed repair from the purchase price while the specialist has not yet reported.

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

Can the surveyor recommend a named firm?

They might. You can still get another quote. A recommendation is not an order to use that firm, and it should not be a commission you have not been told about. Ask if they have a financial link.

What if the specialist says there is no defect?

Then you have bought certainty on that point. The fee was the price of the answer. Do not demand that the surveyor pay it because you hoped for a different answer.

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