We are going to be taking a look at pre purchase surveys and the differences between those.
A typical question we’re asked by property purchasers is what is the difference between a level 2 or level 3 survey.
What’s the difference?
In short, the only difference is the level of detail that the surveyor completing the inspection and report will go into.
The two surveys cover the same points, these are as follows:
Report Format
Section A, Introduction to the Report & Inspection
Section B, Overall Opinion and Summary of the Condition Ratings
Section C, About the Property
Section D, Outside the Property
Section E, Inside the Property
Section F, Services
Section G, Grounds (Including Shared Areas for Flats)
Section H, Issues for your Legal Advisers
Section I, Risks
Section J, Surveyor’s Declaration
Section K, What To Do Now
Section L, Description of the Service
Section M, Typical House Diagram
With both surveys (Level 2 and Level 3) the Surveyor will work their way through the property ensuring all of the sections of the report as above are inspected and fully explained to the client.
However, with a Level 3 Survey, the Surveyor’s description of the defect and advice will go further than that of a Level 2 Survey.
This isn’t to say that a Level 2 Survey will lack detail, instead that the Level 3 Survey is simply more detailed.
What Report is Right for Me?
While we regularly complete both Level 2 and 3 Surveys on both flats and houses,
generally speaking, we tend to advise that Level 2 Surveys are best suited to flats and Level 3 Surveys are best suited to houses.
With any flat, there are going to be areas of the property or building that are occupied by neighbouring flats. There are therefore likely to be inspection restrictions.
Therefore, while you can instruct a Surveyor to complete a Level 3 Survey on a flat, you may be paying the additional cost for the more detailed Survey however not getting all of the benefits.
If you would like to obtain a fixed cost quotation, you can use our instant quote feature now. This will not only confirm the price of the survey, it will confirm the inspection and completion timing and more information on how we approach our Level 2 and Level 3 Surveys.
