RICS Survey Levels 1, 2 and 3 Explained: What You Get, What It Costs and What to Do Next

There are three RICS home surveys, and the names have changed so often that most buyers aren't sure which one they're being quoted for. This guide goes through all three in plain English: what each level actually inspects, what it costs in 2026, what the report will and won't tell you, and what to do when it lands in your inbox.

If you're still deciding which one to book, the Level 2 or Level 3 checker asks eight questions about the house and tells you. If the report has already arrived and you want a number, tick your findings into the RICS survey repair cost calculator.

What a RICS survey is

RICS is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the professional body that regulates surveyors in the UK. Its Home Survey Standard came into effect in 2021 and sets out what each level of survey must include, so a Level 2 from one firm covers the same ground as a Level 2 from another.

The standard replaced the old product names with three levels:

• Level 1, which used to be the Condition Report
• Level 2, which used to be the HomeBuyer Report
• Level 3, which used to be the Building Survey, and which people still call a full structural survey

All three are commissioned by you and written for you. That's the difference from the mortgage valuation, which your lender arranges to protect its loan. A valuation tells the lender the house is worth what you're paying. It tells you nothing useful about the roof.

The three levels side by side

Level 1: the basic condition report

• Typical 2026 fee: £300–£900
• Suits: a modern house or flat built from ordinary materials, in good condition, with nothing you're worried about
• You get: a condition rating of 1, 2 or 3 for each part of the house, and a summary of urgent defects, risks and legal points for your solicitor
• You don't get: advice on repairs, the cause of any defect, or a valuation

In practice few buyers book one. The gap to a Level 2 is often small, and the Level 2 tells you a good deal more.

Level 2: the one most buyers book

• Typical 2026 fee: £400–£1,000
• Suits: a conventional house or flat in reasonable condition, built from ordinary brick or block, that hasn't been heavily altered
• You get: condition ratings for every part of the house, brief advice on repairs and maintenance, notes on things the surveyor suspects but can't see, and points for your solicitor such as missing certificates. Available on its own or as Level 2 with valuation, which adds a market value and a rebuild figure for insurance
• You don't get: the likely cause of each defect, repair options, or anything behind walls, under fitted floors or above a loft hatch the surveyor can't safely get into

Level 3: the full survey

• Typical 2026 fee: £630–£1,500 or more
• Suits: older houses (especially pre-1919), listed buildings, anything built from stone, timber frame or a concrete system, anything extended, converted or run down, and anything you plan to renovate
• You get: everything in a Level 2, plus a longer inspection, the likely cause of each defect, what happens if you leave it, and repair options with their priorities. The surveyor goes into roof spaces where it's safe and looks harder at floors, walls and outbuildings
• You don't get: a valuation as standard (ask if you want one), a structural engineer's calculations, or tests of the wiring, gas or drains

Only around 7% of buyers book a Level 3, according to RICS's own uptake figures. That says more about cost-saving than about the houses. On anything old or altered, a Level 3 explains the problems a Level 2 can only flag.

Which RICS survey level should I book?

For most buyers, a Level 2 for an ordinary brick house or flat built after the Second World War that looks cared for. A Level 3 for anything pre-1919, listed, non-standard, structurally altered, showing cracks, damp or a dipping roofline, or bought to renovate. In between, the extra fee is usually worth paying.

The short version:

• Level 2 for an ordinary brick house or flat built after the Second World War that looks cared for and that you'll live in more or less as it is
• Level 3 for anything pre-1919, listed, non-standard, structurally altered, showing cracks, damp or a dipping roofline, or bought to renovate
• In between, such as a 1930s semi or a tidy Victorian terrace, the fee difference is usually a few hundred pounds, and I'd pay it

Two exceptions. A flat in a purpose-built block rarely needs a Level 3, because the surveyor can only properly inspect your flat; the lease, service charge and fire safety paperwork matter more, and those are your solicitor's job. A new build nobody has lived in needs a snagging inspection, not a Level 2 or 3.

The Level 2 or Level 3 checker works through age, construction, alterations, what you saw at the viewing and what you plan to do, then gives you a list of things to ask the surveyor to look at.

In Scotland you won't book any of these before you offer. The seller provides a Home Report, which includes a survey to RICS standards, and its Category 1, 2 and 3 ratings work much like the Condition Ratings below. See what to do with a Category 3 in a Home Report.

What no RICS survey does

Every level is a visual, non-intrusive inspection. The surveyor won't lift fitted carpets or floorboards, open up walls, move heavy furniture, or test the electrics, heating or drains. Where they can see a symptom but not its cause, they write "further investigation is recommended" and pass it to a specialist.

And no level prices the repairs. A survey tells you the roof covering is near the end of its life. It doesn't tell you whether that's £900 of slipped slates or an £18,000 re-roof. That gap is where most buyers get stuck, and it's the part a builder fills.

What's changing in 2027

RICS has been rewriting the Home Survey Standard. Its September 2026 update says it intends to publish the second edition in the first quarter of 2027, and until it takes effect surveyors keep working to the current version. The draft proposals included renaming the levels basic, intermediate and advanced, allowing a valuation at any level, and asking surveyors to refuse a job where they think the level the client asked for is wrong. Those are proposals, not final rules, and I'll update this guide when the new standard is out.

Reading the report when it arrives

The condition ratings

Every element of the house gets one of four markings:

• Condition Rating 1 (green): no repair currently needed. Normal maintenance only.
• Condition Rating 2 (amber): defects that need repairing or replacing, but aren't serious or urgent. Most of a normal report is 2s.
• Condition Rating 3 (red): defects that are serious, or need repairing, replacing or investigating urgently.
• NI, not inspected: the surveyor couldn't get to it. An NI on something expensive, like a roof space or a cellar, deserves as much attention as a 3.

The thing to hold on to is that the rating says nothing about cost. A £180 gutter and a £14,000 roof can both be a 3. There's more on sorting the red items in what a Condition Rating 3 actually means, and on the ambers in Condition Rating 2: what now. If the report mentions damp or movement, see survey found damp and survey mentions movement or cracking.

A sensible order to read it in

1. The summary at the front. It lists the 3s and the further investigations in one place.
2. Every Condition Rating 3. Write each one down with its section number.
3. Every "further investigation" note, whatever the rating. These are unknowns until someone looks.
4. The NIs. Ask the seller whether access can be arranged.
5. The 2s last. Budget for them over the next few years. They're rarely a reason to renegotiate.
6. The legal section. Forward it to your solicitor: missing building regs certificates, guarantees, rights of way, boundaries.

For a section-by-section walkthrough, and what happens once you've read it, see how to read a RICS survey report. If the wording is the problem, the RICS survey jargon decoder translates over 90 survey phrases.

Common phrases, and what they usually mean

"Evidence of historic movement"

The house moved at some point and has very probably stopped. That's normal for older housing. If the surveyor can't tell whether it's still moving, they'll recommend a structural engineer, which costs £500–£1,200. More in cracks in walls.

"The damp-proof course could not be seen" or "is bridged"

Often the fix is outside, not inside: lowering a path or flower bed that sits above the damp-proof course costs £600–£3,000. An injected damp-proof course runs £2,000–£8,000 and is often recommended when it isn't needed. See rising damp versus penetrating damp.

"The roof covering is nearing the end of its serviceable life"

On almost every house over 80 years old. It can mean £250–£900 of slipped slates and repairs, or an £8,000–£18,000 strip and re-cover. A roofer's quote will tell you which. More in roof covering aged.

"The flat roof is at or beyond its expected life"

Budget £2,000–£6,500 to strip and re-cover a typical rear addition or garage roof. See flat roof survey findings.

"Textured coatings may contain asbestos"

Common in anything built or altered before 2000. A sample test costs £50–£100. Sound material you won't disturb can stay. Removal, if you need it, runs from about £400 to £6,000 depending on what and where. See asbestos in a survey.

"The electrical installation appears dated"

Get an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) for £180–£350 before assuming the worst. Old-looking fuse boards often sit on perfectly good wiring. A full rewire of a three-bed house is £6,000–£12,000 if you do need one. See old wiring types.

"Further investigation is recommended"

This is the surveyor saying they could see a symptom and not its cause. It isn't a verdict. The common ones, with 2026 costs:

• Structural engineer's report: £500–£1,200
• Drain CCTV survey: £200–£400 (what the findings mean)
• Independent damp and timber report: £300–£600 (avoid free surveys from companies that sell the treatment)
• EICR: £180–£350
• Asbestos sample: £50–£100, or £200–£600 for a full survey
• Close roof inspection: £150–£400, or free with a roofer's quote

Do the structural and drainage ones before you exchange. What each investigation costs and which you actually need goes through all eight.

After the report: what to do with it

Once the 3s and the investigations are priced, you have four options, and you can use any of them up to exchange of contracts in England and Wales:

• Go ahead if the costs fit your budget and nothing is still getting worse.
• Renegotiate with a costed list of the urgent items. A schedule with real figures moves sellers. A forwarded survey with a worried email usually doesn't. How much you can negotiate off after a survey has the detail.
• Ask the seller to do a defined repair before exchange, written into the contract by your solicitor. Price reductions are usually safer than repairs done cheaply to get the sale through.
• Walk away if something can't be priced in time, or your lender or insurer won't proceed. Should I pull out after a bad survey? covers how to decide.

Where a builder fits in

Written by Ben Murrell, a builder for nearly 30 years who started as an apprentice in the late 1990s. FMB member and public liability insured. He never quotes for or carries out the work he reviews, and takes no commission.

Your surveyor tells you what's wrong. A builder tells you what it costs, what order it needs doing in and what can wait a few years. For £59 I'll read your report, put a realistic cost against every finding, separate what's urgent from what isn't, and talk it through with you on the phone, all within 24 hours. I never quote for the work or do it, so there's nothing to sell you.

Review my RICS survey and get the numbers the report leaves out.