What is RICS and why is it important for your survey?

Everyone seems to be talking about RICS surveyors and how important it is to have one - but what actually is RICS? And what is so important about it? Worry no longer as Surveyor Local teaches you all you need to know about RICS, what an RICS survey is and how you can get one for your property.

RICS stands for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It is the international body that regulates and trains chartered surveyors and other property professionals across many countries.

RICS was established all the way back in 1792 and has been maintaining high-quality surveying and other property-related services for more than 200 years.

There are three levels of the RICS Survey, with chartered surveyors able to determine a wide range of potential defects in properties and surrounding areas. They can help determine your property's worth, which is helpful for selling a house or when you are interested in buying a house. 

But, what is the difference between the three types of RICS surveys, and why should you consider getting each level?

A Level 3 survey is the most in-depth property survey that you can get. The surveyor will do an in-depth check for any defects or concerns and the structure of internal and external parts of the building. 

If you feel you need an RICS Level 3 survey, here are some things to consider before booking one:

• The property was built before 1900
• Had large repairs or alterations 
• You plan to make future renovations
• Constructed in an unusual way or with outdated methods
• Is a listed building

An RICS Level 2 survey will check for any visible defects to make comments on the properties' condition both internally and externally. The survey is designed to have a ready list of defects for potential buyers to make an informed decision about purchasing the property. 

The final level of the RICS survey is a Property Valuation. This survey is carried out simply to determine the value of the property and nothing more. The chartered surveyor will not check the property for defects. It is useful for negotiating a fair price for the property with the surveyor, who may give you a valuation that is lower than the listed price.

Surveying may not seem like a glamorous job, but it is vitally important for everyone's safety. If our surveyors don't do their jobs properly, we end up living and working in and around potentially unsafe buildings, not to mention the money that could be lost through buying and selling unsound property.

The benefit of choosing a RICS surveyor is that they will have complied with the “RICS Rules of Conduct,” which consist of a set of strict rules and regulations. This prevents them from performing less than standard work and means that you get exactly what you pay for - an in-depth and precise quality survey.

With RICS chartered surveyors trained across the UK, you can find a surveyor for your local area who has in-depth knowledge of the properties that line the town or city you reside in. See if there is a local surveyor for you with our nationwide network of RICS Chartered Surveyors. 

Like anything in life, you get what you pay for, and while a RICS surveyor may cost a little more than a non-regulated surveyor, it is well worth the extra money in the long run.

While we recommend RICS, there are other regulatory bodies too, including the Ecclesiastical Architects & Surveyors Association (EASA), the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES), and the SAVA HCS Scheme.

Of course, a surveyor with RICS or one of these other regulatory bodies will be slightly more expensive, but you pay for the guarantee of good work. A non-regulated surveyor has no one to hold them accountable, meaning they can do as they please, and there's not much you can do about it!

At worst, you could end up with a survey that misses a huge structural problem like subsidence and find that your new property is worth a fraction of what you paid or needs thousands of pounds spent on it—leaving you wishing you had paid for a regulated surveyor in the first place!

If you're unhappy about the work that your RICS surveyor has carried out, you can complain to RICS. RICS is a UK regulatory body and is therefore responsible for investigating complaints and settling disputes. This is unlikely, though, as the requirements for becoming a RICS-regulated surveyor in the first place are set high - meaning you have to be a pretty good surveyor with very high standards to pass.

At Surveyor Local, we have a massive list of RICS Chartered Surveyors across the UK ready to carry out surveyors on all kinds of properties. All the surveyors we work with are RICS-regulated, fully qualified, and reputable. But if you want to look elsewhere, there are plenty around. In fact, there are something like 140,000 RICS members operating in 146 countries. 

If you want to learn more about our range of services and get any questions answered, then be sure to contact us, and a member of our team will be happy to help.