Some buildings ask more questions than a survey format has room for. A house that has been rebuilt twice, extended three times and patched by six different trades holds its history in its fabric, and reading that history is most of the work of understanding what is wrong with it now.
This is the report I want to write for those buildings. It begins as a Level 3, the most thorough of the three RICS levels, and keeps everything that makes one useful: the condition ratings, the element-by-element structure, the summary of what is serious and what is urgent. I then take it further, in eleven specific respects.
What it adds
Every report includes all eleven.
A phased development history. The sequence in which the building was built and altered, read from the fabric. I give dates as banded ranges and I set out what the fabric alone can and cannot establish. Where a phase cannot be dated more tightly without a documentary source, I say so.
A differential diagnosis of any dampness. I set out the mechanisms consistent with the evidence, assess each one, show you what I have ruled out and why, and state how confident I am. Where the visible evidence does not settle the question, I name the specific test that would.
The statutory record. If the building is listed, I reproduce the list entry in full and read it against what is actually there. In every case I search the local authority planning and building-control registers for the property itself and report what is on the record. Where the record is silent, I say it is silent, because an absent consent is not evidence that consent was unnecessary.
An address-level ground and environmental read. Dated, with every source named so you can run it again yourself later. For coastal property this includes the adopted Shoreline Management Plan policy and the epoch it applies to. This is not an environmental search and does not replace one.
A maintenance manual for the building. A separate document with a seasonal calendar and tasks for each element, including what should never be done to breathable fabric.
The compatibility requirements for every repair I identify. What each repair has to achieve, the physics of why, and what to refuse if a contractor proposes it. This is the part that arms you against an over-specification. Named products, mixes and details sit outside this report and are available as a separate instruction.
A renewal horizon for each major element. Banded, with the observations that set it and what would change it. You get the last quarter of its serviceable life, a figure to budget for re-covering within five to ten years, and the observations I am reading that from.
A checklist for your solicitor. Every legal matter the report raises, written as a question they can act on, cross-referenced to the paragraph it came from and to any document you need to obtain. It is not exhaustive and does not replace their own enquiries.
Each part of a multi-part element in its own right. Where a building has more than one roof, or more than one wall construction, of differing type or condition, I enter each void I can safely enter and describe, rate and photograph each part separately.
The explanatory guides relevant to your building. Depending on how it is put together, these may cover solid walls and breathability, old timber frame, thatch, and condensation and mould.
Time to talk it through. A scheduled discussion of the report once you have read it, and a second conversation later, timed for when your solicitor's replies come back and the questions have changed.
Which buildings this suits
Buildings that reward the work: listed property, anything built much before 1850, timber frame, clay lump, flint and carrstone, thatch, and houses that have been heavily altered or long neglected. It suits owners as well as buyers. If you have lived somewhere for years and want to understand it properly before committing to a programme of repair, this is the same report.
It is not the right answer for every building, and I will tell you when a Level 3 or a Level 2 is all yours needs.
Fees
Most of these reports fall between £1,200 and £2,400. The figure moves with the things that drive any survey fee: size, age, construction, condition, how freely the building can be inspected, and how far it is from North Norfolk. I quote every building individually and give you a fixed fee before you commit.
If you have already asked me about a Level 3 and the building turns out to warrant this instead, I will say so when I quote, and I will explain what the difference buys you.