What a "Structural Survey" Actually Is

There is no such thing as a structural survey. Not officially, anyway.

The name is a leftover. What people mean by it — the thorough one, the one you get on an old or an odd house — used to be called the full structural survey. RICS renamed it the Building Survey, and then in 2021 renamed it again to the RICS Home Survey Level 3. Same product, three names, thirty years apart.

The old name stuck because it says what people want it to say. "Structural survey" sounds like someone is going to check whether the house is going to stay up. That is a fair description of a Level 3 — it just is not what it is called any more.

So if you have been told to get a structural survey, what you almost certainly want is a RICS Home Survey Level 3. You can ask us for it by either name and get the same thing.

The one time it means something else

There is one situation where "structural survey" means something genuinely different, and it is worth knowing about because getting it wrong costs you a survey fee.

If a lender, an insurer, a solicitor or a freeholder has asked for a structural survey, they usually mean a structural engineer’s report. That is a different document by a different professional, and a Level 3 will not satisfy them.

The two are not rivals. A Level 3 frequently leads to an engineer’s report: we find movement, we work out what is causing it, and where the answer needs calculations rather than an opinion, we say so and tell you who to ask.

We do not produce structural engineer’s reports, and we will tell you plainly if that is what your situation needs. Paying us for a Level 3 when your lender wants an engineer helps nobody.

What you actually get

A Level 3 is the most detailed survey RICS offers, and the detail is in two places.

The inspection goes further. Every window is tried rather than a sample. Loft insulation is lifted at the corners to see what is under it. The under-floor space is entered where there is access, rather than looked into. The drains are watched while they run, not just uncovered.

And the thinking goes further, which is the part worth paying for. RICS’s own wording is that at Level 3 a suspected problem is followed "to a greater extent" than at Level 2. A damp reading on a bedroom wall is a symptom, not an answer — so the trail gets followed until it runs out. Into the loft above it, along the gutter outside it, under the floor beside it. You get told what is causing it, what it will do if it is left, and what putting it right involves.

A Level 2 describes a property in general terms and rates what it finds, which is exactly what it is for. A Level 3 describes the thing in front of it — this roof slope, these window frames, this section of wall — in the detail you need to get a price for the work or take it back to the seller.

See the full scope of a Level 3, or what a Level 2 covers for comparison.

What a structural survey costs

A structural survey and a Level 3 are the same product, so they cost the same thing: £845 to £1,195 including VAT, fixed in writing before you commit.

Where you land in that range depends on the property, not on how busy we are:

• Size and value. A three-bed semi and a six-bed Victorian villa are not the same day’s work.
• Age and construction. Anything non-standard — solid walls, timber frame, concrete, thatch, listed — takes longer to describe properly.
• What is already known. A property with a history of movement or previous underpinning needs more of the trail followed.

Two things worth saying about price, because the industry is not always straight about them.

A quote is not an estimate. Ours is a fixed figure in writing before you book, and it does not move afterwards. If you are given a price "from £X", find out what X becomes.

The cheapest survey is not the cheap option. A £400 desktop-assisted walkaround that misses a failed lintel has not saved you £500. This is the one purchase in the whole transaction where paying less buys you less.

The full breakdown is in our survey cost guide, or get a fixed quote for your property.

Do you actually need one?

Not everybody does. A Level 2 is the right survey for most houses built this century in reasonable order, and we will say so rather than sell you up.

A structural survey — a Level 3 — is the right call when:

• the property is older — pre-1919, so Victorian, Edwardian or before — or built in a way that is not brick-and-block
• it has been extended, converted or significantly altered, especially where you cannot see the paperwork
• it is listed or in a conservation area, so what you are allowed to repair changes the advice
• something has already been spotted — a crack, a bulge, a damp patch, a roofline that is not straight
• it has been empty for a while, or is being sold by an executor or a lender
• you are simply buying something big, where the cost of being wrong is large

If you are not sure, answer five questions and we will tell you which one the property needs. Getting that recommendation wrong costs us a complaint and costs you a survey, so it is not a question we guess at.

The names, decoded

Everything below is the same product. The names changed; the survey did not.

Estate agents, solicitors and mortgage advisers all still use the old names, and so do a lot of surveyors. Nobody is trying to confuse you; the names just changed faster than the habit did.

Common questions

Is a structural survey the same as a building survey?

Yes. Both are old names for what RICS now calls the Home Survey Level 3. If you ask us for a structural survey, a full structural survey or a building survey, you will get the same thing.

How much does a full structural survey cost?

£845 to £1,195 including VAT, depending on the size, age and construction of the property. The figure is fixed in writing before you book.

Do I need a structural survey or a structural engineer?

If you are buying and want to know the condition of the whole property, you need a Level 3. If a lender, insurer or solicitor has asked about one specific defect, they almost certainly want a structural engineer’s report instead — a different professional and a different document. Ask us and we will tell you which.

How long does a structural survey take?

The inspection usually takes half a day or more depending on the property. The report follows in 5 working days.

Will a structural survey tell me if the house is going to fall down?

It will tell you what condition the structure is in, what is causing any movement or defect, and what putting it right involves. It does not expose foundations or open up the fabric — no survey does that without excavation — so where something needs calculations rather than an opinion, the report says so and says who to ask.