Our administration is all handled centrally at our Head Office in Lee on Solent Hampshire. Our surveyors are located across the South Coast with offices covering Dorset, Wiltshire, Surrey, Berkshire and West Sussex.

We have a strong team of surveyors and registered valuers made up of AssocRICS, MRICS and FRICS. We have experience also in Party Wall, Lease Extension, Commercial surveying, valuations and land valuations.

We ensure our surveyors are assigned work only in the area local to them where they have experience, this local knowledge helps ensure accurate valuations and also offers reassurance as the surveyors are aware of regional property types and local factors such as ground types, risk of flooding etc.

It is easy to be mistaken or perhaps not fully know what help you need, after all how often do you buy a property? For some this is a once in a lifetime experience. Our aim is to provide you with as much information and guidance as possible, our friendly team are happy to answer any questions and offer their expertise.

This very much depends on the property, there are many factors involved in understanding what survey would be best, for this we like to review the property online (where possible) and also ask a few questions after which we will offer our recommendation on how to proceed.

We are able to offer a Defects survey where we can look at a single specific issue or multiple issues, this is offered on a time basis with a minimum charge. The surveyor will inspect the issues and provide a written report within 5 working days of inspection.

Our surveys do not include a valuation as standard but this can be requested at the time of enquiry and/or booking and is an additional charge. It is always more cost effective to complete a valuation at the same time as a survey. You will receive an independent market valuation from a qualified surveyor.

If required we can provide a rebuild cost for insurance purposes (often referred to as BCIS). This must be requested at the time of booking and carries an additional charge.

You can request to book via our online booking system “Survey Booker” directly from our website, alternatively you can contact the office and speak to a member of the team.

If you’ve booked online our team will call you to request some additional information, once we have all of the required information we will advise a provisional date and confirm access arrangements. Our booking system allows you to login and get regular updates.

We don’t take payment until the day of inspection. We will send our invoice on the day of inspection for payment before the report is released.  

The surveyor will attempt to contact you on the day of survey, usually between 3pm - 5pm, however, this can sometimes be outside of these hours. They will offer a verbal debrief ahead of writing up your report and highlight anything significant. Your report will then be prepared and available within 5 working days of inspection. Please allow to the end of the 5th day for the report to be issued, in busier times our surveyors may need the full 5 days. If the report is delayed for any reason the surveyor will contact you ahead of the due date to advise.

We do not charge for cancellations and are happy ot reschedule your appoint as long as you meet our cancellation criteria below.

If you need to cancel we require 24 hours notice prior to the inspection time. We are open Monday to Friday (9am to 5pm) therefore if your survey is due to be completed on a Monday we would require notification to be provided by 9am on the preceeding Friday. The same rule applies to Bank Holidays.

If you need to cancel within 24hrs of the inspection there may be a charge if we are unable to fill the surveyors diary for that day.

No, we are unable to allow access to the property as we do not have a contract with the owner. The inspection is carried out independently by a qualified RICS surveyor, and access to the property is usually arranged through the estate agent or seller.

Yes, we regularly survey historic/period/listed properties and understand due to age they often deteriorate as a result of their construction, which will most likely be of solid walls, and timber, both of which require careful analysis to determine remedial repair works.

Over the years many of these properties are likely to have been altered, whether internally or externally, the interactions between modern and old materials often lead to changes in load distribution to main walls or differential movement between original and new structures.

Advising you on these items and future maintenance relevant to the age of the property are only included in a Level 3 survey. Our FRICS surveyor often accompanies these types of survey to offer expertise and a second pair of hands/eyes – this is not an additional cost and is all part of the service.

No. A mortgage valuation can be carried out to satisfy your lender (where a mortgage is being used to purchase the property), if you are purchasing privately you may wish to confirm you have agreed a fair price and instruct us on this basis. 

A valuation is not a survey and does not provide detailed information about the condition of the property. A RICS survey, such as a Level 2 Home Buyer or Level 3 Building Survey, provides an independent assessment of the property’s condition, highlights defects, and advises on repairs and maintenance, usually for the buyer, although in some cases vendors may wish to have a survey.

Dependant on the level of survey, our inspections usually take between 2-3 hours, longer if a property is complex or particularly large.

Following RICS guidance the surveyor will do their very best to thoroughly inspect and identify and defects, both significant and minor. However, as a RICS survey is a visual inspection only it is not always possible to identify everything. If the surveyor suspects an issue but is unable to 100% confirm without an invasive search they will recommend the best course of action to take within their report.

The surveyor cannot lift floorboards or open up the structure.

The surveyor will comment on the likely age and condition of the properties heating system and electrics, again, as the inspection is visual any concealed electrics/plumbing cannot be inspected. They will also offer guidance where possible on whether replacement should be considered.

We recommend requesting copies of any electrical works and or heating system installation/servicing via your solicitor or the estate agent/current owner.

If the surveyor suspects there to be asbestos at the property they will highlight this in their report, a specialist would be required to confirm if present. It may be that no further action is required, however, the advice would usually be to engage with an Asbestos specialist to further assess.

The surveyor will lift drain covers where visible and where possible, they will inspect entry points for signs of damage and/or blockage, if they suspect a blockage they would recommend a specialist drainage company were engaged to check this using specialist camera equipment etc. 

If the surveyor finds spray foam at the property this would be commented on in the report, this can often affect the ability to obtain a mortgage. Often the recommendation would be to consider removal.

You should check with the current owners if they have building control sign off /planning for any works (not all works require this), if you are unsure you can check with your solicitor or the relevant local council. You can apply for retrospective approval if necessary.

The surveyor can comment as much as possible on whether the structure appears to comply but as the inspection is visual and most elements may be concealed (either underground) or beneath decorative finishes this is not always possible.

The surveyor cannot comment on future works within the actual report as they must write the report based on the properties current state at the time of inspection. They will however, attempt to ascertain if any walls appear to be supporting walls that may prevent planned future works and also verbally can discuss planned works and the likelihood of being able to carry these out subject to planning etc.

The surveyor would inspect the grounds for signs of invasive plant species including Japanese knotweed, however, these can at certain times of year lay dormant and not be visible.

The sellers questionnaire should highlight if there is a history of this and an appropriate treatment plan should be in place. Copies of paperwork should be requested via your solicitor if this is the case.

If there are any large trees within close proximity to the property the surveyor would comment and look for signs of any affects to the property. It is often worth checking with local councils if any trees have TPO’s (tree preservation orders) on them as this may impact the ability to remove etc.

The surveyor would only lift the lid and check flow – the vendors/agents/solicitor should be able to provide or request documentation on servicing/emptying.

The surveyor would inspect the bund, the tanks proximity to combustible surfaces, how it is supported and how easy it is to access/fill.