Structural survey is the traditional name for the most detailed inspection a building surveyor offers, published today as level 3 of the RICS Home Survey Standard. It is a whole building inspection with the licence to investigate what can be safely reached, and it is written to explain rather than to list. It is not a structural engineer's calculation and it is not a valuation.
What the surveyor inspects
Roof coverings and structure where the void is accessible, walls inside and out, floors where they can be seen, windows and doors, chimneys, drainage covers, outbuildings and the grounds so far as they affect the building. Services are visually inspected rather than tested unless a specialist is instructed.
What the report says
For each element: what is there, what condition it is in, what has caused any defect, how urgent the remedy is and what that remedy should be. The explanation is what separates this level from the one below it, and it is what makes the report useful in a negotiation.
What a full structural survey sample looks like
Most practices will send a redacted example. Look for specific recommendations rather than lists of possibilities, for photographs referenced to the text, and for a clear statement of what could not be inspected and why.
What it is not
It is not a guarantee, and no surveyor can see through a wall. It is not a structural engineer's report, which is a narrower instruction producing calculations. It is not a mortgage valuation, which is written for the lender.
A structure survey, and what people mean when they ask for one
Two different things share the phrase. A building survey is the full inspection of the whole property by a surveyor, covering construction, condition and defects, with advice on repairs; a structural survey in the stricter sense is a structural engineer's report on a specific concern, such as a crack, a bulging wall, movement after a leak or the removal of a wall. Asking a general surveyor for the second produces further investigation recommended, and asking an engineer for the first produces a narrow report that says nothing about the roof. Decide which question you have before instructing, because the two are priced and written differently.
What is a full structural survey, and what it is now called
Nobody sells a full structural survey any more, which is why asking for one produces confusion and occasionally the wrong document. The building survey that people mean is a Home Survey Level 3: the most detailed of the three levels, inspecting everything visible and accessible, reporting on each element with a condition rating and explaining the cause and the likely consequence rather than just the defect. What it is not is a structural engineer's report. If a surveyor finds movement and wants a calculation, a design or an opinion on the adequacy of a structure, that is a separate instruction to an engineer, usually narrower, sometimes involving opening up. The practical answer when a lender or an estate agent asks for a structural survey is to ask which they want: the level 3 survey for a whole house picture, or an engineer for one defined problem.
Questions people ask about structural survey
What does a full structural survey involve, UK practice?
A long inspection of the whole property, inside, outside and in the roof void where safely accessible, followed by a written report explaining condition, cause, urgency and remedy element by element.
Is a level 3 structural survey the same thing?
Yes. Level 3 of the RICS Home Survey Standard is the current name for what was long called a full structural survey or a building survey.
Do I need one on a new build?
Rarely. A new build under warranty is usually a snagging exercise instead, which is a different and cheaper instruction aimed at finishing defects rather than at structural condition.
What is the cost of structural survey for subsidence made of?
Three parts, and the first is often skipped in a cheap quote. The engineer's visit and report, which is the opinion on cause and whether it is progressive. Monitoring, because subsidence is diagnosed over time rather than in an afternoon: crack gauges or level monitoring read over months is what distinguishes historic movement from active. And the investigations the engineer may need: a trial pit to see the foundation, a drainage survey because a leaking drain is a common cause, and sometimes a soil or root analysis where a tree is involved. A report with no monitoring and no trial pit is a first opinion rather than a diagnosis.