Do you need a surveyor for a self-build home?

When you buy an older house, most people would understand that there are likely to be issues with its condition creeping in over its years of existence, so abuilding survey is wholly advisable to see what issues there are and to help establish the severity and likely remedial cost.

Even if you are looking at buying a new-build property, prospective buyers (albeit likely to be smaller in number than those looking for an older property) might think that it's worthgetting a survey done to confirm that the condition of the property is sound.

But what if you have decided to opt for buying a stretch of land and have the necessary permits and planning permissions to build a property to your own specifications? Surely you don't need to worry about spending money on getting a chartered surveyor involved, especially if you are involved in the day-to-day project management? After all, you can see the home take shape day after day, so you'll know what the condition of the property is?

In reality, building a home from scratch needs far greater project management and technical oversight in order that you can protect your investment than you might expect, which can be provided by a chartered surveyor. Involving a chartered surveyor, too, will help provide the assurance that everything complies with the building regulations and tenets of the planning permission, as well as ensuring that what is built, and how it is built, is constructed to the highest standards.

You can appoint a surveyor at any point in the build, but the earlier the better to avoid any costly remedies for issues that have already been constructed. This means that they should have sight of the architect's plans and drawings, as well as overseeing the details of the planning submissions. This will avoid problems with delays in building and the introduction of serious issues later on.

Chartered surveyors can also act as project managers, if required, co-ordinating the work, managing deliveries of the various construction materials and keeping a tight control of the budgets. Inevitably, there will be questions arising on the build, which will require your input to make decisions, and the surveyor would act as the conduit between you and the builders.

The surveyor will also have a wealth of experience with the use of contractors employed on the site, from foundations and wall-building to topping out with the roof, the electrics, plumbing and everything in between, to ensure that the eventual build conforms to your precise requirements and meets all the planning and building regulations.

And, of course, they will ensure that the construction team meet the technical compliance when it comes to the use of materials, how the home is built and looking towards the future durability, so that you won't be met with major issues to rectify further down the line.

Building your own home isn't for everyone, but it can be an exciting if stressful process, and the dividends once you move in make it worth it.

And, with a chartered surveyor on board, you will get independent oversight monitoring all of the contractual work, assurance that what is being built meets the regulatory requirements and the confidence that design and structural issues will be addressed before they become significantly more expensive to rectify.

Whatever your plans for moving home or buying (or even building) your next property, make sure that your budget includes the all-important survey. Surveyor Local will connect you to the best professional advice through our nationwide panel of chartered surveyors, all of whom are members of the RICS, ensuring the survey you get is always professionally delivered. They will work hard to identify all kinds of problems, including the impact of prior flooding on the structure of the property.

Call to get your no-obligation survey quote started or to discuss your plans for the property.

You can also get a quick survey quote online. Enter a few details about the property and you'll get an instant quote by email, and we'll do the rest once you confirm you're happy to go ahead.