Level 3 Survey Example: What the Report Actually Contains

If you are looking for a filled-in Level 3 survey to read before you commission one, start with a fact that saves time: RICS publishes a file called “Sample Home Survey Level 3 Report”, and it is blank.

It is a 51-page pro-forma. The condition rating tables have no rows filled in, the comment boxes are empty, the photograph frames are grey placeholders and the rating circles are uncoloured. It is the report template with nothing written in it, not a worked example of a surveyed property.

That is worth knowing before you go looking. What can be set out accurately is the structure of the RICS-branded template and the content the standard requires of a Level 3 service — which is most of what people actually want when they search for an example.

There is no single official Level 3 report

The second thing that surprises people: RICS does not mandate one template.

Members and regulated firms need a licence to produce a branded RICS Home Survey report. But RICS also states that members and regulated firms “are also permitted to produce bespoke Home Survey Reports without the RICS brand”, and that any such report “must comply with the Home Survey Standard”, with no licence required.

The standard itself says the same at section 4.2: “The presentation of the report will be a matter of an RICS member’s individual approach but should conform to good practice in report production.”

So two Level 3 reports from two firms can look quite different and both be entirely proper. What they share is not a layout — it is the requirement to be benchmarked against level three and to meet the standard’s content requirements. Any guide showing you “the” Level 3 report as though it were universal is overstating things.

The standard behind it

The document is the Home survey standard, 1st edition, published November 2019 and effective from 1 March 2021. Its own imprint page records an unusual history: it “was originally published in November 2019 as an RICS professional statement and was reissued in April 2023 as an RICS professional standard.”

One current caveat. RICS states that the standard “is currently under review” and that “Members should still use the 1st edition until the 2nd edition goes into full effect.” A consultation on a second edition ran in late 2025. The first edition remains the operative document, so that is what this guide describes.

A naming point that causes confusion: the standard itself refers to “survey level one”, “survey level two” and “survey level three” in lower case. “RICS Home Survey – Level 3” is the name of the branded report product, not a term the standard uses for the service.

The fourteen sections of the RICS template

The RICS-branded template runs A to N:

The element-by-element assessment sits in D, E, F and G, each broken into numbered rows. Outside covers chimney stacks, roof coverings, rainwater pipes and gutters, main walls, windows, outside doors, conservatories and porches, and other joinery. Inside covers roof structure, ceilings, walls and partitions, floors, fireplaces and flues, built-in fittings, woodwork and bathroom fittings. Services covers electricity, gas or oil, water, heating, water heating, drainage and common services. Grounds covers the garage, permanent outbuildings and other structures.

Each of those four sections carries a “Limitations on the inspection” box at its head, where the surveyor records anything they could not check.

Condition ratings, including the two people miss

The RICS-branded Level 3 template rates elements 1, 2 or 3. Two points about that.

First, the numbered markers are not prescribed by the Level 3 standard. Section 4.3.1 treats a condition rating system as one possible prioritisation approach at Level 1, whose report requirements feed into Level 2. Level 3 must outline prioritisation, but it does not prescribe the branded numbered markers. Those ratings come from the RICS template. Any method used must be clearly defined for the client.

Second, the RICS template defines five markers, not three. In the template’s own words:

R – Documents we may suggest you request before you sign contracts. Condition rating 3 – Defects that are serious and/or need to be repaired, replaced or investigated urgently. Failure to do so could risk serious safety issues or severe long-term damage to your property. Written quotations for repairs should be obtained prior to legal commitment to purchase. Condition rating 2 – Defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered to be either serious or urgent. The property must be maintained in the normal way. Condition rating 1 – No repair is currently needed. The property must be maintained in the normal way. NI – Elements not inspected.

R and NI are easily missed when an explanation discusses only ratings 1, 2 and 3. NI matters especially: the template notes that “We carry out a visual inspection, so a number of elements may not have been inspected.” A page of NI ratings is not a failed survey — it is the surveyor telling you what remains unknown.

One convention worth understanding when you read section B: where an element has several parts, “only the part in the worst condition is shown here”. A rating 3 against “roof coverings” may refer to a small flat roof on an extension rather than the main roof.

What the standard requires a Level 3 report to address

Section 4.3.3 sets out what a level three service should cover:

• the form of construction and materials used for each part of the building should be described in detail, outlining any performance characteristics
• obvious defects should be described and the identifiable risk of those that may be hidden should be stated
• remedial options should be outlined along with, if considered to be serious, the likely consequences if the repairs are not done
• a timescale for the necessary work should be proposed, including (where appropriate and necessary) recommendations for further investigation
• future maintenance of the property should be discussed, identifying those elements that may result in more frequent and/or more costly maintenance and repairs than would normally be expected
• the nature of risks of the parts that have not been inspected should be identified and
• prioritisation of issues should be outlined.

Section 4.1 is expressed more strictly: “The report must be property specific”, clearly presented and logically structured, factual and unambiguous with fact and opinion clearly separated, in non-technical terms, and balanced.

That first phrase is the one to hold onto when you compare quotes. A report that reads like a generic description of houses of that age is not meeting the standard.

What the surveyor does and does not do

This is where Level 3 earns its cost, and where expectations most often run ahead of reality. From the standard’s Appendix B, describing level three:

Roof space — “The RICS member will enter the roof space and visually inspect the roof structure.” Insulation is not moved, but “small corners should be lifted so its thickness and type, and the nature of the underlying ceiling can be identified”, and a small number of lightweight possessions may be repositioned where permission is given and it is safe.

Floors — all floors are assessed “for excessive deflection by a ‘heel-drop’ test”. Where the subfloor is inspected, an inverted “head and shoulders” inspection is carried out at the access point, and “if it is safe to do so, the RICS member will enter the under-floor area to carry out a more thorough inspection.” Entering the under-floor void is the level three differentiator; at level two the surveyor “will not enter the subfloor area.”

Drains — accessible inspection chamber covers are lifted where safe, though this “will be restricted where properties are empty and drained down.”

Windows — the surveyor will “attempt to open all windows where possible.”

Now the limits, from the template’s section M:

The surveyor does not force or open up the fabric of the building without occupier/owner consent, or if there is a risk of causing personal injury or damage. This includes taking up fitted carpets and fitted floor coverings or floorboards; moving heavy furniture; removing the contents of cupboards, roof spaces, etc.; removing secured panels and/or hatches; or undoing electrical fittings.

Under the standard Level 3 inspection, fitted carpets, fitted floor coverings and floorboards are not taken up as a matter of course; small corners of loose, unfitted coverings may be lifted. Any separately agreed opening-up still depends on owner or occupier consent and safety. Heavy furniture is not moved. The standard says the surveyor should ask the owner or occupier to move things that obstruct inspection, and tell you if that was not done.

Services are not tested. The standard is explicit that the surveyor “does not perform or comment on design calculations or test the service installations or appliances in any way.” At level three they observe normal operation — a sample of lights and extractor fans, and asking the occupier to run the heating. Section M spells out the consequence: the inspection “cannot assess the efficiency or safety of electrical, gas or other energy sources”, nor investigate plumbing, heating or drainage installations, nor the internal condition of any chimney, boiler or flue.

Section M also states that “External wall systems are not inspected”, and that the surveyor “does not carry out an asbestos inspection”.

Equipment is a damp meter, binoculars, a torch, and a ladder for flat roofs and hatches no more than three metres above the floor or ground where safe.

A valuation is not included

A Level 3 does not include a market valuation or a reinstatement cost figure unless you agree it separately. The template lists “market valuation and re-instatement cost” among extra services, each requiring separate terms of engagement.

Repair cost estimates are optional too. Appendix A3 notes that giving an indication of likely costs “would not normally form part of the level three service, but some RICS members may choose to include it”, and where costings are included that must be reflected in the terms and conditions.

Both are worth settling in writing before instruction, which is one reason to compare what each quote actually includes. The Level 3 survey cost guide covers the factors behind a quoted fee.

Further investigations, and a rule that protects you

Where a visible defect suggests a hidden problem, section 4.9 requires the surveyor to recommend further investigation. But it also imposes a restraint that rarely gets quoted:

the RICS member must not recommend a further investigation just because a given building element is inaccessible within the confines of a normal inspection … The RICS member should exercise professional judgement and must not call for further investigations only to cover him or herself against future liabilities.

Where one is recommended, it must state what element is affected and why, when it should be done, and a broad indication of who should carry it out.

Appendix A3 adds that at level three such referrals “should be the exception rather than the rule”, because “A survey level three report should aim to provide the client with all the information they need to make a decision.” If a Level 3 report defers many conclusions to other specialists, ask how those referrals fit the Level 3 benchmark and the inspection limits recorded for the property.

Reading a report before you commission one

Since the RICS sample is blank, the practical route is to ask a surveyor for a redacted example of their own work. Firms differ in how they present findings, and the standard permits that. What you can check against is this guide: does their report address the seven matters in section 4.3.3, is it property specific rather than generic, does it separate fact from opinion, and does it explain whatever rating system it uses?

The red flags on a house survey guide explains how to read serious findings, unresolved investigations, NI markers and legal-adviser entries without treating every defect as a reason to withdraw.

The Level 3 survey guide explains what the service covers and when it is the right choice, and the Level 2 and Level 3 comparison sets out the decision between them. Other guides are listed in the guides index.

If you are ready for quotes, you can post your survey job — free. An administrator manually reviews each complete request and may invite participating surveyors whose stated service coverage and profile fit the brief, where they are available. Submission does not guarantee an invitation, quote or introduction.

A note on sources

Quotations are taken from the RICS Home survey standard, 1st edition, and from the RICS Home Survey – Level 3 report template, both published by RICS and downloaded directly. The observation that the published sample report is blank comes from opening the file RICS links as “Sample Home Survey Level 3 Report” and examining its pages. RICS has a second edition of the standard under review; this guide describes the first edition, which RICS states remains in use.