A chartered surveyor is an individual who comes in to your physical property (either a house or a construction project in the works) to assess its value and its condition. He can also help with the creation of a new development. Chartered surveyors provide useful advice about obtaining planning permissions, property renovations and other environmental issues. In the UK, chartered surveyors are under the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Certainly. Care must be taken to only hire a surveyor who is well qualified for the job. From the moment you get their business card, look at the name on it. A fully qualified chartered surveyor will have the letters MRICS in their title. Any surveyor recommended to you by your estate agent should have completed a degree or course that is RICS accredited. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is the biggest professional body of surveyors and to achieve chartered surveyor status, the individual must be a member. In addition to this, your surveyor should have acquired at least two years practical experience before sitting for the APC exam to become fully qualified.
A chartered surveyor should be hired if you need a valuation for a project or renovation which you are currently working on, or for a future project. There is a broad area of need for surveyors as they can value land, machinery or buildings; but they choose to specialise in a particular area. A rural surveyor for instance, could value a farm and its available assets, while a building surveyor would value a modern apartment building. A chartered surveyor can prove helpful to companies or individuals or planning authorities working at the design and implementation phases of a construction project, providing their educated opinions on the best way to maximise the available land. A surveyor can examine the condition of a property and create a comprehensive report for a client, outlining problems, possible solutions and potential costs.
When you make use of the services of a chartered surveyor, you receive professional opinions on your most important and expensive property investments. Chartered surveyors are experts when it comes to property and have the necessary experience with the local authorities. Property valuations, conditions of a property, dealing with local authorities are all experiences that can be smoothed out by a surveyor, because they are well-placed to offer advice. As a property investor, whether buyer or seller, you need experienced chartered surveyors to use their expertise to conduct thorough and accurate investigations, which means that you have the best property advice at your fingertips before making any committed investments. Access to hard-to-uncover information and services by chartered surveyors is another reason why there are benefits to using a chartered surveyor.
A guide cost cannot be easily given because what a surveyor will charge will depend on the size of the job and your specific requirements. However, a simple valuation can fall between £100 – 250, a homeowner’s survey can be charged about £250 – 1000, while a full structural survey cost around £500 – 1500. However, this is simply a rough guide to provide a general idea. The prices will differ based on you’re the size of the property, location within the UK and on your individual valuation needs. A useful tip is to get several quotes from different surveyors, so that you can choose the most fitting professional for your pocket.
Depending on the service you require, a surveyor specialising in your required area is who you will need. Surveyors belong to a highly diverse profession, with various categories of chartered surveyors such as:
Building surveyors – they provide advice on the design and the construction of new buildings and repairs/restorations for existing buildings
Rural surveyors – they value rural properties and their assets (like farms and farm machinery), and advise landowners who deal with local authorities
Environmental surveyors – they determine and monitor the effects of properties on the environment – this could include advising someone who is building on contaminated land, for instance
Construction surveyors – they oversee and provide advice on huge construction projects, such as office blocks and housing estates
There are some useful questions that will serve as a guide when trying to decide on the surveyor to handle your property valuation or any other task you need a surveyor for. They include:
When did you begin practicing?
Are you a member of RICS?
How long will it take to complete the job?
Do you have professional indemnity?
Are you familiar with my area?
Have you had experience with my type of property?
How much do you charge for a survey and what does the quote include?
The best way to find a chartered surveyor is to have a trusted estate agent recommend one for you. In addition, you could search the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) official website in order to find RICS-accredited surveyors in your area.
Contact us if you have any more questions about quotes for a survey
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