RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey? Which one your house actually needs

What you get with each one

Both are visual, non-intrusive inspections. Neither surveyor lifts fitted carpets or floorboards, opens up walls, or tests the electrics, gas or drains. The difference is how long they spend, how far they look, and how much they explain.

Most buyers book a Level 2. In RICS’s own uptake figures only around 7% of buyers chose a Level 3, which says more about cost-saving than about what those houses needed.

Why the age of the house matters so much

Age is a shorthand for how the house was built. These are the eras I’m thinking about when someone tells me the date on a listing:

Before 1919

Solid walls with no cavity, lime mortar, shallow foundations, often no proper damp-proof course, and slate roofs at the end of their first or second life. These houses are fine when they’re allowed to breathe, and go wrong when they’ve been patched with cement render and plastic paint. A Level 3 surveyor will explain which you’ve got.

1919–1944

Early cavity walls with iron wall ties that can rust and expand, which shows up as horizontal cracks in the mortar. Bay windows on shallow footings. Plenty of these houses are in great shape, but there’s enough going on that I’d lean to Level 3.

1945–1979

Mostly straightforward brick, but this is the era of system-built concrete and steel houses, flat-roofed extensions, asbestos in textured ceilings, garage roofs and soffits, and wiring that may never have been replaced. A Level 2 suits a typical one, as long as it’s ordinary brick.

1980 onwards

Modern cavity walls with insulation, damp-proof courses and building regs that look much like today’s. A Level 2 is normally enough unless it’s been heavily altered.

New build

Neither, usually. A snagging inspection checks the finish and workmanship against the warranty standard before you complete, which is what actually goes wrong on new builds.

What pushes you to Level 3 whatever the age

• It’s listed. Old alterations done without listed building consent become your problem, and the repairs have to be done in the right materials.
• It isn’t ordinary brick. Stone, cob, thatch, timber frame, or a concrete or steel system build. Some prefabricated reinforced concrete (PRC) houses are designated defective, and many lenders won’t touch one without a repair certificate.
• Structural changes. A loft conversion, knocked-through walls or a big extension. You want someone looking at what’s holding it up, and your solicitor asking for the building regs sign-off (see no building regs sign-off).
• Warning signs at the viewing. Cracks, a dipping roofline, a bulging wall, damp patches, blown render. The viewing checklist covers what to look for.
• You’re planning serious work. If you’re going to extend or renovate, a Level 3 is the closest thing to a condition schedule you’ll get before you start spending.
• Fresh paint everywhere. A house done up for sale can look perfect at a viewing. New plaster and paint can hide filled cracks and damp, so you want the more thorough inspection.

When a Level 3 is money you don’t need to spend

A flat in a purpose-built block is the main one. The surveyor can only properly inspect your flat and what they can see of the common parts, so a Level 3 tells you little extra. Your bigger risks there are the lease, the service charge, planned major works and, in taller blocks, fire safety and cladding paperwork. Your solicitor deals with those, not your surveyor.

A modern, unaltered house on an estate is another. A Level 2 will find what there is to find.

And sometimes the right answer is a Level 2 plus one specialist check. A Level 3 surveyor still won’t put a camera down the drains or test the wiring. On a 1960s semi with a big tree out the front, a Level 2 and a drain CCTV survey (£200–£400) can tell you more than a Level 3 on its own. The checker above suggests these where your answers point to them, and “further investigation recommended” prices each one.

Before you book: five things to do

1. Ring the surveyor and describe the house. Age, construction, what’s been done to it and what worried you at the viewing. A good surveyor will tell you if they think you’ve picked the wrong level.
2. Tell them what you plan to do. If you want to knock through or go into the loft, they can look at those parts properly.
3. Send them your viewing photos and the listing. Point at anything you’re unsure about. The checker’s “copy this” button gives you a ready-made list.
4. Choose your own surveyor. You don’t have to use the one the agent or broker suggests. Check they’re RICS regulated and local enough to know the housing stock.
5. Ask what’s not included and when you’ll get the report. A Level 3 takes longer to write. Make sure it lands with time to act on it before exchange.

What it all costs is on the cost of a house survey.

What’s changing in 2026 and 2027

RICS has been rewriting the Home Survey Standard that sets out what each level must include. The consultation ran in 2025, and in its September 2026 update RICS said it intends to publish the second edition in the first quarter of 2027. Until then surveyors keep working to the current version, so Level 2 and Level 3 mean what they meant last year.

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 page when the new standard is published.

In Scotland the seller provides a Home Report, which includes a survey, before the house goes on the market. You read it before you offer, and its Category 1, 2 and 3 ratings work much like the Condition Ratings in a Level 2 or 3.

Whichever you book, it won’t tell you what the work costs

Both reports describe what’s wrong and how urgent it is. Neither prices the repairs, and a Condition Rating 3 can mean a £180 gutter or a £14,000 roof. That gap is why I do survey reviews: you send the report, I go through every finding, put a realistic cost against it, and tell you what to raise with the seller before you exchange.