Home survey standard

Webpage updated as of 17 June 2026.

Since the Home survey standard 1st edition was first published in 2019 and became effective in 2021, it has set the benchmark for best practice in promoting and enforcing the highest standards in the residential sector.

The standard has established a clear framework that maintains consistent, high-quality standards in residential property survey services across the UK.

The Home Survey Standard is currently under review. Members should still use the 1st edition until the 2nd edition goes into full effect.

Scroll down to read more about it and download it

Latest news

Home survey standard 2nd edition: April 2026 update (news article 16 April 2026)
Home survey standard 2nd edition: A progress update (news article 10 February 2026)
Understanding the RICS Home survey standard proposal (news article 6 October 2025)
Revised Home survey standard to offer greater clarity | Journals | RICS (journal article 26 August 2025)

Proposed updates for the Home survey standard 2nd edition

As a Royal Charter, we are required to act in the public interest. Our standards lay out the ethical, conduct and competence requirements expected for our members and we ensure these standards are upheld by the profession through a system of independently led regulation.

To ensure our standard continues to meet these expectations, we conducted a member survey of 325 respondents and a UK consumer survey of over 1400 homeowners to understand their experiences with home surveys. The results from both surveys have informed the proposed changes. Scroll down to our Member survey overview section to read more about the results.

The public consultation ran from 19 August – 14 October 2025 and invited members and firms, including individuals and organisations involved in the sale or purchase of a property, to share their insights on the evolving needs of the residential market and how we can update the standard to meet these needs.

Proposed changes in the consultation included:

Updated information on legislation and regulatory practices
Use of technology and AI
Greater clarity on levels of surveying
Optional valuation for all levels of surveying
Guidance for ‘additional risk’ dwellings
Additional services, from retrofit buildings to drone inspections

We are committed to ensuring this updated standard is clear and practical for practitioners and the public, underpinned by a rigorous member-led review process, with final recommendations assessed by the independently led Standards and Regulation Board.

RICS, along with the author and Expert Working Group, are reviewing all the consultation responses in detail. This is the most time-intensive phase due to the careful consideration required to review all comments and agree amends to the standard. We will provide updates at each stage of the process.

Frequently asked questions

Updated as of 17 June 2026.

General
Home survey standard 2nd edition consultation

RICS develops and enforces leading international standards to protect consumers and businesses, ensuring the highest level of professionalism is employed across the built and natural environment.

As a Royal Charter, we are required to act in the public interest. Our standards documents lay out the ethical, conduct and competence expected for members of RICS. By working to our standards, professional members and RICS regulated firms deliver confidence. RICS ensures these standards are upheld by the profession through a system of independently led regulation.

We regularly review RICS standards to ensure they meet changing national and international market needs. Feedback from members and RICS Regulation highlighted the need to strengthen some areas of the Home survey standard in addition to providing further clarification to reflect consumer insight and technological changes. To maintain the integrity of the standard, RICS launched a comprehensive programme to update it through extensive research and engagement with members and consumers.

The review process included three key phases. First, we assessed the RICS regulatory complaints and queries, alongside discussions with The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). Second, we commissioned a consumer survey of around 1,400 people who purchased a home or commissioned a survey in the past five years. In the third phase, we surveyed 325 RICS members to gather their views on the first edition.

The update also reflects significant changes since 2019, including advances in technology such as AI, drones and camera poles, as well as evolving homebuyer priorities around climate change, energy efficiency and retrofit assessments.

More details on why we are updating the standard can be found in this Journals article and the Member survey overview section of this webpage.

Findings from the consumer survey are detailed in this report.

We ran two public consultations simultaneously from 19 August to 14 October 2025, one covering proposed updates to the Home survey standard 2^nd edition and another on a proposed new home survey regulatory scheme. Although these consultations ran at the same time and concern home surveys, they were fundamentally separate from each other. Insights shared on the regulatory scheme will not impact on the standard, and vice versa.

The public consultation on the updated Home survey standard aimed to ensure the standard reflects these changes in the market and maintains its authority as the best practice in home surveys for today and in the coming years.

The consultation on the home survey regulatory scheme proposal followed initial support shown for a regulatory scheme in a 2024 survey. One of the questions in the survey asked ‘Should RICS consider a standards scheme (similar to the Valuer Registration Scheme) for residential surveyors?’ – 45.6% of respondents said ‘Yes’, 35.23% said ‘No’, and 19.17% said ‘I’m not sure’. We are exploring its feasibility in more detail, relying upon feedback from members to inform our next steps.

Yes, they were public consultations, and we encouraged individuals and organisations involved in the sale or purchase of a property to share their observations and comments. All responses will be considered.

RICS follows a standard governance process for all our professional standards to ensure they are robust and fit for purpose. These steps include:

The Expert Working Group and RICS review all consultation feedback.
Updates agreed by the Expert Working Group and RICS will be made to the standard.
The final standard goes through further stages of review by member-led professional panels and boards, made up of experts and practitioners, including:
- Editorial review to ensure clarity and consistency
- Residential Professional Group Panel review
- Knowledge and Practice Committee review and approval
- Final approval from the Standards and Regulation Board
The standard will be published.

For the regulatory scheme, we will review the responses and provide a report on the consultation to the Standards and Regulation Board. We expect a further update to be available for members in the first quarter of 2026.

We are committed to transparency around the process and will share an update on our progress and next steps by the end of March.

All RICS members and regulated firms must ensure they follow the Rules of Conduct wherever they work or practice. The five rules provide a structure for making ethical decisions about how to behave as a professional. Members must use their professional judgement in applying these principles to the situations they face in practice and firms must support individuals working for them to do so and to conduct themselves to the high standards expected by RICS members and firms.

The proposal on the regulatory scheme explained how we currently regulate home surveys and set out options for ways that we could change this. We received views on this from members and the public through the consultation.

We understand the importance of transparency in this process. RICS and the Expert Working Group are systematically working through all consultation responses, and we have shared some of the key emerging themes in our recent Home survey standard article.

Once the updated standard is published, we will also publish a basis of conclusions document outlining the key feedback themes, how they influenced the final standard, and the rationale for decisions made. This is usual practice for all RICS professional standards and demonstrates how consultation feedback shapes the final outcome.

We are committed to transparency around the process and will provide regular updates on our progress and next steps. We have published one such progress update in February and aim to share another by the end of March.

We received over 1,000 comments as part of the consultation. More details summarising these and how we addressed them will be shared in a Basis for Conclusions when the standard is published.

The purpose of the Home survey standard is 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 RICS template reports offer 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.

No, this standard only applies to UK-based RICS members, firms and candidates.

The consultation proposed the following changes:

Updated information and guidance on legislation and regulatory requirements for undertaking a home survey, ensuring members provide the highest level of service for today’s housing market.
Expanding valuations so that VRS-regulated surveyors can undertake valuations across all levels, from Home Survey Level 1 to Level 3 and greater clarity on the requirements needed for each level.
Reflect the advancements within professional practice by cross-referencing technological advancements, particularly AI, and offer guidance on cost advice, alterations, insurance reinstatement, drone inspections and new build inspections.
Guidance for ‘additional risk’ dwellings, including a framework and guidance on historic buildings, new-build snagging and retrofit homes.
Updated appendices with more benchmarking of the levels of reporting and inspection, better supporting RICS members in their practice.

The changes that will appear in the 2^nd edition of the Home survey standard will be dependent on the responses received in consultation.

Yes, the templates, supporting material and forms will be reviewed to align with the new standard post-publication.

Yes, our Home Surveys in Practice - 3 Part Series (a 3-part web class) will be updated after the standard has published.

Yes. RICS representatives, an Author and an Expert Working Group, comprising surveyors (from Associate to Fellow) and independent stakeholders, are leading the development of the updated standard. The group met over the course of 11 months regularly to review and discuss refinements to the draft, with members contributing both collectively and on specific sections individually.

These proposed changes are informed by RICS' extensive research and engagement programme, which included surveys of 325 RICS members and over 1,400 UK homeowners, consultations with RICS boards and committees, engagement with external bodies including CEDR, The Property Ombudsman, the Home Buying & Selling Council and the Homeowners Alliance, presentations to over 1,600 people at industry events, and an eight-week public consultation (19 August – 14 October 2024) with webinars, social media polls and direct stakeholder outreach.

Please visit the Expert Working Group section of this webpage to learn more about the members.

Review of the standard 2024-5 - expert group and member survey

The Expert Group and Author are updating the standard collectively, with each member also contributing expertise to specific sections outlined in their bios below.

The Expert Group

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.

RICS Lead

Leigh Chaney MRICS

Senior Specialist in Residential Surveying, RICS

Leigh brings over 20 years of varied property and construction experience to his role. A Chartered Project Management Surveyor (RICS), Leigh has developed expertise across the technical and practical aspects of the residential sector, including a comprehensive understanding of the RICS Home Surveys and associated products/services. As an RICS Registered Valuer (VRS), Leigh has undertaken residential valuations for a variety of purposes across Central London, further strengthening his professional insight. He also founded and successfully operated his own RICS regulated practice, consolidating his experience in inspection, surveys, valuation, reporting, client service, and business management.

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.

Alexandra Anderson

Retired (was Partner at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain)

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

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.

John Baguley FRICS

Group Valuations, Together Money

John is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and before joining Together Money, held roles at UK Finance, 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.

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.

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.

Professor Richard Fitton FRICS

Technical Director; Professor of Building Performance, Energy House 2.0, The University of Salford

Richard is the Technical Director for the Energy House 2.0 project a world leading building physics test lab at the University of Salford. He holds a PhD in Building Physics and is a chartered building surveyor, and a Fellow of the RICS. He leads a task group for the development of international standards around energy performance. He has authored over 40 publications in this area. Richard is the Chairperson of the British Standard for Retrofit Assessment. 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. He is a panel member on the RICS Professional Group Panel for residential property. He is the lead of an Annex of the International Energy Agency studying the use of smart meter data to provide energy efficiency metrics for dwellings.

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.

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.

Steve Lees MRICS

Associate Director of Technical Services, Countrywide Surveying Services

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.

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.

Giles Smith

Chief Surveyor and Technical Director, SDL Surveying

Giles qualified as a Chartered Building Surveyor in 1989, starting out in private practice across the South of England, before joining a major UK lender. Giles has been at SDL Surveying since 2007, with responsibility for survey and valuation professional standards as Chief Surveyor and Technical Director. Giles was a member of the Home Survey Standard 1st edition expert group.

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 took place on the proposed draft standard, from 19 August to 14 October 2025. 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.

Home survey standard 1st edition

The RICS Home survey standard that came into effect on 1 March 2021 was created 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.

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 RICS template 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.

Please note, RICS form templates will be subject to review and changed based upon the final 2^nd edition of the standard.