Anyone can call themselves a surveyor. That’s why it’s worth spending five minutes checking who you’re instructing before you rely on their report for one of the biggest purchases you’ll make. Here’s what to check, what the letters mean, and the questions that separate a good surveyor from a cheap one.
1. Check professional body membership
Most residential surveyors in the UK belong to one or more of these:
- RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) — the largest surveying body, which sets the Home Survey Standard behind Level 1, 2 and 3 surveys.
- RPSA (Residential Property Surveyors Association) — a professional body for residential surveyors, with its own standards and survey products.
- CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building) — the professional body for construction management, relevant to surveyors with a construction background.
Each body has an online directory or member search. If a surveyor claims membership, you can check it.
2. Check whether the firm is regulated
There’s a difference between an individual being a member of RICS and a firm being regulated by RICS. A firm that is regulated by RICS has signed up to RICS’s rules for firms, which include requirements around:
- professional indemnity insurance, so there’s cover if something goes wrong;
- a complaints handling procedure, with access to independent dispute resolution;
- standards of conduct and competence across the firm.
RICS publishes a directory of regulated firms, so this is easy to verify. For transparency, ours: Mills Building Consultancy is regulated by RICS, firm registration number 9317773.
3. Understand what the letters mean
Membership grades cause a lot of confusion, particularly the word “chartered”.
RICS grades
- AssocRICS — Associate member. A recognised RICS qualification based on relevant experience and assessment, often in a specialist area. It is not a chartered grade.
- MRICS — Member. A chartered grade: the holder is a chartered surveyor.
- FRICS — Fellow. A chartered grade recognising senior achievement.
So “chartered surveyor” specifically means an MRICS or FRICS member.
CIOB grades
- MCIOB — Chartered Member of the CIOB, a Chartered Construction Manager.
- FCIOB — Fellow of the CIOB.
These are chartered grades in construction rather than in surveying, and they reflect deep knowledge of how buildings are put together and built.
The honest point for buyers: the right combination of competence, experience with your type of property, firm regulation and insurance matters more than any single set of letters. Be wary of anyone who blurs the distinctions, for example describing themselves as a chartered surveyor without holding MRICS or FRICS.
4. Check insurance and redress
Ask whether the surveyor holds professional indemnity insurance, and what happens if you have a complaint. Good firms will explain their complaints procedure and any independent redress scheme they belong to, such as The Property Ombudsman.
5. Ask the questions that reveal quality
Qualifications are a minimum. These questions tell you more:
- Who will actually carry out the survey? Some cheap quotes come from lead-generation panels that pass your job to whoever’s available. Ask for the surveyor’s name and qualifications.
- How familiar are you with this type of property and area? Local experience with, say, Victorian stone terraces or 1960s system-built houses is valuable.
- Which survey level do you recommend, and why? A good surveyor explains their reasoning; they don’t just sell the most expensive option.
- Can I see a sample report? It shows how clearly they write and how practical their advice is.
- Can I call you after the report? The conversation afterwards is often where the value is.
- Do you sell any remedial work? For damp and timber in particular, independence matters. A free survey from a company that sells the treatment has an obvious conflict of interest.
The short version
Check the membership, check the firm, understand the letters, confirm the insurance, and ask who’s actually doing the work. It takes minutes, and it protects a decision worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
If you’d like to check us out, our credentials and registrations are on the about page. Or send us the address and we’ll recommend the right survey and quote a fixed fee before you commit. You might also find what a building surveyor actually does useful.
Sources and further reading
- RICS Home Survey Standard — RICS — mandatory for members and regulated firms since 1 March 2021