Exactly what is a Chartered Surveyor?

A Chartered Surveyor is really a building surveyor who assesses properties for defects, future problems or issues. They can also workout the value of a house. Surveyors create a report so you can see if the property is a great investment, or if you can find any issues that might create problems down the road. These could include things like damp, structural issues and Japanese knotweed.

To become 'Chartered Surveyor', a surveyor will have taken extra qualifications and had a certain level of experience, that is approved by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Some surveyors may not have gone on to get these extra levels of education to become chartered, but it's still regulated by RICS, and become fully qualified. These could be referred to as Assoc RICS, associates, or just building surveyors.

You don't have to necessarily use a Chartered Surveyor for the survey, but we always recommend using RICS accredited experts, and only feature RICS surveyors on our site.

What do Chartered Surveyors do?
Much like all building surveyors, a Chartered Surveyor will visit the property, assessing different areas and identifying any problems. They'll then put everything into a report for you personally, and you can decide if you intend to just do it with the purchase, as well as renegotiate based on the findings in the report.

For example, if the report tells you that you will have to spend �5000 on repairs down the road, you could negotiate the price of the house down by that amount. Which is why  https://charteredsurveyorsurrey.com/best-chartered-surveyor-surrey/  is a great investment.

When do I want a Chartered Surveyor?
You get touching a Chartered Surveyor when you have made an initial offer on the house and had it accepted. If the survey reveals a thing that stops you purchasing the property, it has saved you a huge amount of money. Most offers are made 'subject to survey', so the seller knows that when something unexpected is revealed, you may back out or expect a decrease in price.