No, I believe that if a surveyor is regularly paying an estate agent for survey work, they can start to rely on those paid referrals for workload. There will become a conflict of interest where the surveyor is more concerned over upsetting the agent, and disrupting their commercial relationship, than providing the best possible independent service for their client who is buying the house.

I do not receive any commissions from the contractors whose contact details I provide to my clients for work or further investigations. Most of these contractors or consultants have carried out work for me personally on my own house, or I have received positive feedback from clients on their service.

The only situation where a referral fee may be paid is to other surveying firms who cannot resource or provide the specialist advice on older buildings for their clients, that I specialise in, and I carry out the work for the other firm or independently.

I dictate everything I see on site and take photos within a bespoke app. Whilst on site, I dictate summaries of each section, such as roof coverings. At the end of the survey inspection, I prepare an overall summary. The dictation is then typed by my secretary, who also proof reads. I review the report, making corrections and clarifications, and also provide costings for essential repairs. I also undertake desktop research on items such as flood risk and subsoil, and research publicly available records on planning applications on the property. My secretary then proofreads a second time before the report is sent to the client.

A basic Level 2 Survey it takes around three hours on site. A level 3 survey with the additional advice dictated on site takes at least 4 hours. A larger house takes around six hours, and a much larger, complicated or Listed countryside house with can take two days, depending on the floor area and number of outbuildings. Very large houses with several annexes have taken up to three days in the past.