What is a Chartered Surveyor?

A Chartered Surveyor is really a type of building surveyor that may carry out your property survey - but what do they do?

Visit the website  know you need a survey, and that they are carried out by a surveyor - but what does 'Chartered Surveyor' mean? What do they do, and how will you pick one?

What is a Chartered Surveyor?
A Chartered Surveyor is really a building surveyor who assesses properties for defects, future issues or problems. They can also work out the value of a property. Surveyors create a report so you can see if the property is a great investment, or if there are any conditions that might create problems in the foreseeable future. These could incorporate damp, structural issues and Japanese knotweed.

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

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

What do Chartered Surveyors do?
As with all building surveyors, a Chartered Surveyor will visit the property, assessing different areas and identifying any problems. They'll then put it all into a report for you personally, and you could decide if you need to just do it with the purchase, and even renegotiate in line with the findings in the report.

For instance, if the report lets you know that you will need to spend �5000 on repairs later on, you could negotiate the price of the house down by that amount. That is why a survey is a superb investment.

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

Only book a surveyor if you have had an offer accepted. Otherwise, the seller will be inundated with surveyors visiting their house!