Why do I need a survey?

You may have had a mortgage valuation but in many cases these are now done remotely as a desktop exercise and the surveyor may not have visited the property. For most people, buying a property is the biggest financial transaction they will make in their life. A survey can offer you peace of mind about your buying decision and give you advice about repairs and future maintenance allowing you have all the information you need to make the purchase decision.

There are lots of people to deal with including estate agents and solicitors. If you need a mortgage, you will also need to deal with a bank or mortgage broker. You may never have dealt with a Chartered Surveyor before so how do you go about choosing one to help you?

At Rickards Oliver Limited we offer personal service from a highly experienced Chartered Surveyor and our aim is to give you sound advice regarding your property so that you are in an informed position to proceed with confidence on your transaction. Part of the process of building that confidence is that we do recommend that you speak with other firms and shop around. We have listed below some questions that you should be asking to help you compare services.

Is the surveyor providing the survey or valuation qualified?

RICS has three levels of qualification and members at all levels should provide a good level of service:

AssocRICS (Associate member) is the entry level qualification and is a non-Chartered grade of membership. This qualification is generally held by those at the beginning of their surveying career but AssocRICS surveyors often have substantial experience gained from other roles or industry sectors.

MRICS (member) denotes a fully qualified Chartered Surveyor.

FRICS (Fellow) is the most senior grade of Chartered Surveyor and is held by those with substantial experience. I hold the FRICS designation.

You can check that your surveyor is qualified by checking the RICS website –

Is the firm Regulated by RICS and what does that mean?

Rickards Oliver Limited is an RICS Regulated firm.

Most firms owned by or employing Chartered Surveyors to provide surveying services to the public should be regulated by RICS. There are some exceptions: for example, sole traders do not always have to register for regulation.

Holding RICS Regulated firm status means that both the firm and the member must act within strict rules of conduct and uphold high professional and ethical standards.

You can check that the firm is regulayted by using the RICS find a surveyor service and checking the name of the firm on the link below

Can you speak to the surveyor?

When paying for a service such as a survey or valuation, it is important that you have confidence in the person providing the service. At Rickards Oliver Limited, we will speak with all our clients to understand your requirements and provide the service you need. The points on which you need confidence are:

1. Does the surveyor have good local knowledge of the area and asset type being valued?
2. Does the surveyor take the time to understand your needs and explain the services available?
3. Does your conversation with the surveyor give you confidence?

Price

The price will depend upon what service you require. The obvious tip is to shop around but price comparison websites, whilst they exist, are best avoided. They will generally yield a cheap price but we believe that quality is more important and have chosen not to use such sites.

A survey or valuation is not a service that should be bought on price alone. For a high value asset such as a home, it is vital that you are getting the level of service you deserve.

We hope that this is of some help in the process of finding a surveyor. If you would like to speak with us, please contact us.