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What is a RICS HomeBuyer Report
RICS is the world's leading qualification when it comes to professional standards in land, property and construction. All of our HomeBuyer Reports are undertaken by Chartered Surveyors.
In a world where more and more people, governments, banks and commercial organisations demand greater certainty of professional standards and ethics, attaining RICS Chartered Surveyor status is the recognised mark of property professionalism.
Over 100,000 property professionals working in the major established and emerging economies of the world have already recognised the importance of securing RICS membership and of those only Chartered Surveyors are full "Professional Members".RICS is an independent professional body originally established in the UK by Royal Charter. Since 1868, RICS has been committed to setting and upholding the highest standards of excellence and integrity - providing impartial, authoritative advice on key issues affecting businesses and society.
The RICS HomeBuyer Report is reproduced with the permission of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors who owns the copyright.
© 2010 RICS
Introduction to the Report
This HomeBuyer Report is produced by an RICS surveyor who has written this report for you to use. If you decide not to act on the advice in this report, you do this at your own risk. The HomeBuyer Report aims to help you:
- make a reasoned and informed decision on whether to go ahead with buying the property;.
- make an informed decision on what is a reasonable price to pay for the property;
- take account of any repairs or replacements the property needs; and
- consider what further advice you should take before committing to purchase the property
Any extra services we provide that are not covered by the terms and conditions of this report must be covered by a separate contract.
About the inspection
We inspect the inside and outside of the main building and all permanent outbuildings, but we do not force or open up the fabric. We also inspect the parts of the electricity, gas/oil, water, heating and drainage services that can be seen, but we do not test them.
To help describe the condition of the home, we give condition ratings to the main parts (the 'elements') of the building, garage and some parts outside. Some elements can be made up of several different parts.
In the element boxes we describe the part that has the worst condition rating first and then briefly outline the condition of the other parts.
The report covers matters that, in the surveyor's opinion, need to be dealt with or may affect the value of the property.
Important Note
We carry out only a visual inspection. This means that we do not take up carpets, floor coverings or floorboards, move furniture or remove the contents of cupboards. Also, we do not remove secured panels or undo electrical fittings.
We inspect roofs, chimneys and other surfaces on the outside of the building from ground level and, if necessary, from neighbouring public property and with the help of binoculars.
We inspect the roof structure from inside the roof space if there is access (although we do not move or lift insulation material, stored goods or other contents). We examine floor surfaces and under-floor spaces so far as there is safe access to these (although we do not move or lift furniture, floor coverings or other contents).
We are not able to assess the condition of the inside of any chimney, boiler or other flues.
We note in our report if we are not able to check any parts of the property that the inspection would normally cover. If we are concerned about these parts, the report will tell you about any further investigations that are needed.
We do not report on the cost of any work to put right defects or make recommendations on how these repairs should be carried out. Some maintenance and repairs we suggest may be expensive.