Glossary of residential surveying terms

Survey types and levels

RICS Home Survey Standard: The RICS professional standard, in force since 1 March 2021, that sets out three levels of home survey and what each must include.

RICS Home Survey Level 1: The lightest survey, formerly the Condition Report. It gives condition ratings and flags urgent defects and legal issues, but generally does not advise on how to manage defects and does not include a valuation. Best for newer, conventional homes in good condition.

RICS Home Survey Level 2: The mid-level survey, formerly the HomeBuyer Report, for conventional properties in reasonable condition. It adds, over a Level 1, a fuller roof space and drainage inspection, advice on defects and the repairs or maintenance needed, a risks section, and an EPC review, and comes with an optional market valuation. See Level 2 Home Survey reports.

RICS Home Survey Level 3: The most comprehensive survey, formerly the Building Survey, for older, larger, altered or unusual properties. It analyses how the property is built and how its materials will perform, considers hidden defects, and sets out repair options with a timeline and the consequences of not acting. See Level 3 Home Survey reports.

HomeBuyer Report: The former name for the RICS Home Survey Level 2. Still widely used, though RICS renamed it.

Building Survey: The former name for the RICS Home Survey Level 3. Still commonly used.

Condition Report: The former name for the RICS Home Survey Level 1.

Condition ratings

Condition ratings summarise the state of each element of the property. They are used in Level 2 and Level 3 surveys.

Condition rating 1: No repair is currently needed. Normal maintenance applies.

Condition rating 2: Defects that need repairing or replacing but are not serious or urgent.

Condition rating 3: Serious or urgent defects. Repairs or replacement should be arranged quickly, and written quotes obtained before you commit to the purchase.

NI (Not Inspected): The element was not inspected, for example because it was not accessible.

R: A flag that there are matters, such as documents or permissions, you should ask your legal adviser to check before committing to the purchase.

Parts of a report

Market value: The surveyor's opinion of the price the property should reasonably fetch. Included in a Level 2 survey-and-valuation, and in a Level 3 where a valuation is agreed.

Reinstatement cost: The cost of rebuilding the property to its existing standard, used to set your buildings insurance cover. It is not the same as the market value.

EPC (Energy Performance Certificate): A certificate showing a property's energy efficiency rating. The surveyor reviews it but does not usually prepare it.

Risks section: The part of the report that summarises defects and issues posing a risk to the building, the grounds, or people.

Common defects and construction terms

Rising damp: Moisture rising from the ground up through a wall by capillary action, usually where a damp-proof course is missing, bridged, or failed.

Penetrating damp: Moisture entering the building from outside through walls, roofs, or around openings, for example through defective pointing, render, or flashings.

Condensation: Moisture from the air forming on cold surfaces inside the property. A common cause of damp and mould.

Damp meter: A handheld instrument a surveyor uses to take moisture readings from walls and timber.

Subsidence: Downward movement of the ground beneath a building's foundations, which can cause cracking. Distinct from settlement.

Japanese knotweed: An invasive plant that can affect a property's value and mortgageability and may require a treatment plan.

Woodworm: Common name for wood-boring beetle activity in timber, which may need treatment if active.

Solid wall construction: Walls built as a single leaf of masonry, common in older properties, with different damp and insulation behaviour from cavity walls.

Cavity wall construction: Walls built as two leaves with a gap between them, standard in most twentieth-century and later homes.

Professional and regulatory terms

RICS: The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the professional body that regulates surveyors and sets standards in the UK and globally.

MRICS / FRICS / AssocRICS: RICS membership designations: Associate (AssocRICS), Member (MRICS), and Fellow (FRICS).

RICS Registered Valuer: A surveyor registered under the RICS Valuer Registration Scheme to provide valuations.

Professional indemnity (PI) insurance: Insurance that covers a surveyor against claims of professional negligence. Surveyors must hold it.

Professional indemnity (PI) risk: The risk that a report exposes the surveyor to a negligence claim, for example if it is inaccurate or overstated. See security, data handling, and PI.

RICS Responsible Use of AI standard: The RICS professional standard "Responsible use of artificial intelligence in surveying practice", mandatory since 9 March 2026, governing how surveyors may use AI. See security, data handling, and PI.

AI and software terms

AI survey report software: Software that drafts a survey report from a surveyor's inputs, such as their site notes and photographs, for the surveyor to review and sign off. See how AI survey report software works.

Large language model (LLM): The type of AI that generates written text, used to draft the report.

Hallucination: When an AI states something that is not supported by the input, in effect inventing detail. In survey software, grounding the draft in the surveyor's recorded notes reduces this.

Text grounding: Drafting from the text a surveyor actually recorded, rather than from images or invention, which keeps the report tied to the facts.

Standard-phrase bank: A library of pre-written phrases a surveyor selects from to assemble a report. See how this compares on the comparison page.

Dictation: Speaking your findings on site or afterwards, which is transcribed to text. It lets you keep your eyes on the property rather than a screen.