Home survey standard

The RICS Home survey standard was created in 2019, and became effective in 2021 (post Covid), to demonstrate consistency, deliver the highest quality of service, meet with evolving consumer needs and contribute to delivering trust in the home survey market across the UK.

Review of the standard 2024-5

As the residential sector evolves, periodic reviews of this important standard are necessary. RICS aims to deliver a revised document for home surveys that:

Meets member requirements.
Provides a clear framework for qualified RICS members and regulated firms.
Considers consumer sentiment and sector developments.
Accounts for third parties working with the standard in their respective areas.
Reflects opportunities and risks in the sector.

To support the review, we conducted a member survey to gather views and feedback on the current standard, focusing on areas that require revisions, additions, or that are functioning well. The survey received feedback from 325 respondents, which we are currently analysing along with the results of a UK consumer survey of over 1400 homeowners to understand their experiences with home surveys.

The results from both surveys will inform where improvements can be made to the standard and then we will launch a formal public consultation on the updated draft standard. Any changes to the standard will be subject to approval from the Knowledge and Practice Committee and the Standards and Regulation Board.

The Expert Group and the Author are updating the standard as a collective, but specific sections each of them are also working on are detailed in their bios below.

The Expert Group

RICS Lead

Steve Lees MRICS

Senior Specialist in Residential Surveying, RICS

Steve is a Chartered Surveyor. His previous roles ranged from being a residential surveyor, for a small partnership, through to being Head of Technical Surveying for one of the largest residential surveyors in the UK. Steve has also contributed to several RICS publications before joining the organisation in March of ... 2024. He is also an ambassador for an independent charity – LionHeart who support RICS professionals and their families. Read More

Chair

Gary Epps MRICS

Chartered Surveyor (retired)

A Chartered GP Surveyor (now retired) having specialised in the residential survey and valuation sector working for major Corporate S&V firms, but more recently as part of an innovative Property Risk Team at the Nationwide Building Society where, as Head Valuer, key responsibilities included risk assessment, valuer ... guidance, lending Policy, quality and management of Valuers. Working on 'both sides of the fence' as both a supplier and receiver of Professional services proved invaluable in recognising the potential of RICS Members and consumer demands, and this experience will help shape the review of the HSS ensuring it continues to remain fit for purpose in an ever-evolving marketplace. Read More

Author

Larry Russen FRICS

Consultant, Russen & Turner

Larry is a Chartered Building Surveyor, Chartered Building Engineer and Party Wall Surveyor. With more than 40 years’ experience, Larry is a member of the RICS, Allied Surveyors & Valuers and is a trainer with the SAVA Assessment Centre in Milton Keynes. Having served as an expert witness in numerous cases, including ... at the High Court, and authored articles and books, Larry regularly teaches and trains qualified and trainee surveyors to degree level and founded Russen & Turner in 1981. Larry still works full time as a consultant and when not spending time sailing on the water with his beautiful children, can be found cycling, running or playing 5-a-side football. He recently completed studying for a Masters Degree in German Language, History and Culture at University College London. Larry continues to undertake a range of surveys and inspections. Read More

Alexandra Anderson

Partner, RPC

Alexandra is an insurance lawyer with deep expertise in the construction and surveyor sectors. She acts for a wide range of clients, and specialises in claims against surveyors, particularly those relating to surveying, valuations, and property management. Alexandra co-edits Hogarth’s Insurance for the Construction Industry ... and has been involved in writing various RICS guidance notes for surveyors. She is a Deputy District Judge and a member of the Technology and Construction Solicitors Association. Alex will have oversight with regards to legal implications of the document, with a particular focus on Section 2 Setting up the Service, the impact of AI, Appendix D Terms of Engagement and Appendix F Legal Matters. Read More

Joe Arnold MRICS

Managing Director, Arnold and Baldwin

Managing Director of Arnold & Baldwin, Joe is responsible for all commercial and residential valuations within the firm, which in one single year undertook over 6,500 valuations for its clients, for a multitude of purposes. Specialising in London and the Home Counties, Joe is representing Residential Property in ... the Valuation PGP, having already helped create Risk, Liability and Insurance, 1st edition, Valuation of buy-to-let and HMO properties | RICS and Home survey standard. In 2020 Joe won Surveyor of the year at The Specialist Lending Awards, and the 2021 British Mortgage Awards, a first for any SME business owner. He also won Best SME in South London. As a member of the former Survey & Valuation Professional Group, Joe is here to continue to shape the future of the residential industry. Joe is an active residential surveyor carrying out all levels of RICS Home Surveys and Valuations. He started his firm in 2007 and provides RICS with insight from an SME perspective and will be leading on Section 3 Carrying out the Service and will also be looking at a framework for pre-sale surveys along with Appendix B Benchmarking the Levels of Inspection. Read More

Louise Avery MRICS

Founder and Managing Director, Avery & Co Chartered Surveyors

Avery & Co Chartered Surveyors specialise in the survey and valuation of residential property throughout the Northwest of England and North Wales. Louise qualified in 1990 and started her residential surveying career as an in-house valuer for Lloyds Banking Group before setting up Avery & Co in 2004. Louise ... has recently contributed to RICS working groups including the Valuation approach for properties in multi-storey, multi-occupancy residential buildings with cladding, and has also drafted sections for the review of RICS Valuation Global Standards UK Supplement VPGA 12. Louise is a Domestic Energy Assessor and in 2023 presented at an RICS Webinar on energy matters relating to the RICS Home Survey Standard. In her spare time, Louise is a former Special Inspector with Merseyside Police, and is currently secretary of Merseyside & Cheshire Blood Bikes, who transport blood, tissue and breast milk on behalf of the NHS. Louise is an active surveyor and will be focusing on the pre-sale survey framework, Appendix A Definition of the Levels and Appendix C Knowledge of the Location. Read More

John Baguley FRICS

Principal - Mortgages, UK finance

John is Principal, Mortgages, at UK finance, the trade body for the financial services sector. John is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and before joining UK Finance held Director roles at Countrywide Surveyors and RICS. Before that he held the ombudsman position for the surveyors ombudsman scheme ... which followed several years as a residential surveyor and Technical Services Manager. John is providing support to the expert group in an advisory capacity and was instrumental in the development of the 1st edition of the standard. Read More

Zoe de Boehmler FRICS

Technical Director, Gateway Surveyors

Zoe qualified as a Chartered Building Surveyor in 2001 and started her career as a commercial Building Surveyor based in Central London. She then moved into the residential sector undertaking surveys and valuations and is a Fellow of the RICS. Zoe joined Gateway Surveyors as Technical Director in 2022, having previously ... held the role of Area Director at Connells for over 7 years. Zoe is a member of the Property Risk Panel for the Building Societies Association and contributes to RICS Working Groups. Zoe is part of the sub-group reviewing Section 3 Carrying out the Service and Section 4 The Report. She is representing the larger corporate surveying firms. Read More

Kate Charrington FRICS

Director, Projekt 3

Kate Charrington is the director of Projekt 3. She supports residential surveyors to deliver improved home survey and valuation reports through enhanced and up-to-date content. Kate is a qualified retrofit coordinator and Climate Reality Leader. She is focused on driving sustainability and improved standards within residential ... surveying and is a regular contributor to panels and discussions. Kate has twice been shortlisted for RICS Young Surveyor of the Year and has recently been on the Expert Working Group for the RICS Retrofit Standard. She is keen to drive forward the role of the residential surveyor, particularly at a time when we are seeing increased energy costs and the continuous impact of climate change on the homes we live in. Kate is also part of the sub-group reviewing Section 4 The Report, Appendix A Definition of the Levels and providing oversight for retrofit, sustainability and ESG. Read More

Professor Richard Fitton MRICS

Professor Building Performance, Salford University

Richard holds a PhD in Building Physics and is also a chartered building surveyor. He leads a task group for the development of international standards around energy performance. Richard is the Chair of the upcoming British Standard for Retrofit Assessment. He is also active the International Energy Agency studying the ... use of smart meter data to provide energy efficiency data for dwellings. He holds a place on the SAP Scientific Integrity Group at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) which oversees the domestic energy model used in the UK. Richard is also the technical lead for the new Energy House 2 project, a building physics test lab. Richard undertakes surveys for research purposes and is leading on retrofit and sustainability, along with conservation and heritage reporting. Read More

Scott Jack AssocRICS

Regional Development Director, Walker Fraser Steele Chartered Surveyors

Scott is the Regional Development Director of Walker Fraser Steele, which is the trading name of e.surv Chartered Surveyors in Scotland, specialising in residential survey and valuation. Having spent 10 years in estate agency, Scott studied at the College of Estate Management and took a graduate surveyor position with ... Walker Fraser Steele in 2014. Shortlisted for the RICS Young Surveyor of the Year Award in 2016, Scott moved into management in 2018 continuing a keen interest in the Scottish Home Report product, training the next generation of surveyors and innovating the production of site notes through the use of new technology. Scott is also a member of the RICS Scotland Residential Forum. Scott is the nominated representative for Scotland and will be leading on Scottish related matters and Appendix C Knowledge of the Location. Read More

Tim Kenny AssocRICS

Tim Kenny Surveying Ltd

Tim first started his property career as a Home Inspector as part of the ill-fated HIPs and then, following a spell in block management, set up Tim Kenny Surveying Ltd in 2014. As well as specialising in Level 2 and 3 Home Surveys, he is also an industry trainer and an Associate Tutor at UCEM. Outside of surveying, ... Tim is also a Yoga teacher and gives regular Stress Relief and Breathwork webinars for LionHeart. Tim is an active surveyor and will be working with the group on Section 3 Carrying out the Service, Section 4 The Report, along with Appendix B Benchmarking of the Inspection, and investigating a framework for new build snagging. Read More

Rob Mead FRICS

Technical Director, Connells Survey and Valuation

Rob has 40 years of residential valuation and survey experience, having worked in various sized private practices, in social housing, for lenders and in the corporate sector. Rob keeps his knowledge fresh and relevant by still undertaking residential inspections. Serving as a member of various RICS working groups, Rob ... has contributed to published papers and key decision making. With a keen focus on the quality of residential survey and valuation, Rob creates and delivers training and mentors newly qualified Residential Surveyors. Rob has a broad residential knowledge and is the Connells’ SME in a number of areas including cladding and HMOs. As already noted, Rob is an active surveyor and represents the larger corporate surveying firms and will form part of the group to review Section 4 The Report. Read More

Matt Nally

Founder and Director, Survey Booker

Matt is the founder and director of Survey Booker, dedicated to improving efficiencies and customer engagement in the surveying industry through technology. With 15 years of operational expertise, he helps surveyors enhance their interactions with clients and industry partners. Bringing a technology supplier’s perspective ... to the working group, Matt ensures new surveying standards are practical and beneficial for both surveyors and consumers. His focus on user feedback and process improvement supports the development of standards that equip surveyors with the right tools to deliver high-quality outcomes. Read More

Sam Piplica MRICS

Senior Specialist – Building Surveying, RICS

Sam has worked as a building surveyor in a private practice consultancy, both as an employee and as a company owner, and has a wide breadth of building surveying experience. He joined RICS in March 2022 and is one of the senior specialists in the professional practice and development department, responsible for the building ... surveying and building control disciplines. He is also the staff lead for the Building Conservation Advisory Group and Dilapidations Advisory Group. Sam will be supporting on the conservation and heritage assets and new build snagging content as well as supporting on Section 2 Setting up the Service. Read More

Morwenna Slade MRICS

Director, Climate Change, Ingleton Wood

Morwenna is a Chartered Building Surveyor specializing in climate change, adaptation, and energy efficiency. She leads Ingleton Wood's climate adaptation team, focusing on traditional buildings and sustainability. With expertise in policy and technical agendas, she advises on onsite delivery, estate management, and strategic ... decision-making. Previously, Morwenna was Head of Climate Change Adaptation at Historic England, leading a national advisory team. She also worked for the National Trust and The Churches Conservation. Currently, she serves on various panels, including CIOB Heritage Advisory and IHBC Technical, and is a Trustee for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Morwenna actively undertakes surveys currently on a range of property types and will lead on conservation and heritage assets and retrofit, sustainability and ESG. Read More

To support the review, RICS conducted a member survey to gather views and feedback on the current standard. The survey focused on areas that require revisions or additions, as well as establishing where the current standard works well, and received feedback from 325 respondents.

Respondents to the survey spanned all experience levels and designations. The majority were members with more than twenty years of experience, carrying out Level 2 and 3 home surveys, although other survey types and experience levels were also represented.

One question in the survey cut to the core of our research, as we asked for views on the standard as a whole. Most believed it to be appropriate in its current state (58%), although 31% thought the standard should be more prescriptive while, conversely, 11% believed it to be too prescriptive.

Other qualitative feedback and insights were provided through the survey, which will also shape our next steps in improving and updating the standard. All survey responses will be used to inform areas of improvement for the standard, alongside the results of a wide-reaching consumer survey. We have polled more than 1400 homeowners to better understand their experiences with home surveys, and this insight will be essential as we work to deliver a standard that works for members and strengthens trust in the profession.

A public consultation will be held in 2025 on the proposed draft standard. Following the public consultation, the standard will be updated as agreed by the Expert Group, Author and RICS. The final standard will be subject to approval from the Knowledge and Practice Committee and the Standards and Regulation Board.

The 1st edition - information

The RICS Home survey standard that came into effect on 1 March 2021 is the best practice benchmark in promoting and enforcing the highest standards in the residential sector.

This standard integrates insights from RICS professionals, cross-industry stakeholders and consumers.

The Home survey standard aims to:

Establish a clear framework that sets minimum expectations to protect and maintain consistent and high-quality standards in residential property survey services that RICS members and regulated firms provide.
Provide mandatory requirements for RICS members and regulated firms in the UK who conduct residential property surveys.

The standard and its associated reports offer numerous benefits, including:

The ability to highlight your findings in a way that is easily understood by your clients with the traffic light condition ratings system.
Offering a clear report structure.
Providing an impartial property assessment by RICS, updated to adhere to the Home survey standard and ensures that it maintains the benchmark for best practice.