How to hire
Start by matching the professional to your job, because this table mixes several trades under one heading. Buying an existing home calls for a home surveyor and one of the three RICS survey tiers below [1]. If you are building, extending or converting, you want a quantity surveyor to plan and control costs, a different appointment entirely [5]. If your home is newly built, you want a snagging inspection that lists every defect for the builder to fix [4]. Say which of the three you need in your first enquiry.
Know which survey tier fits your property. RICS sets three levels under the home survey standard it introduced in March 2021 [1]. The first tier suits conventional newer homes in good condition, noting defects without advising on repairs. The middle tier suits standard homes in reasonable condition, adding repair advice, with an optional valuation and reinstatement figure. The full building survey suits older, larger, altered or run-down homes, with detailed analysis, repair options and timescales [1]. Ask the surveyor which tier fits your property before you accept a quote.
Check the name before you book. Search the surveyor on the RICS Find a Member database and the firm on the RICS firm search, matching the name that comes back to the business you are hiring [2]. A logo on a website proves nothing on its own. Match limited companies on the Companies House register, showing whether each is active [8]. If a claimed registration cannot be found, ask why before you go further.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same scope so you compare like with like. Each quote should name the service tier, what is inspected and excluded, the report turnaround, the fee, whether VAT is added, and payment stages [6]. For cost appointments, agree whether the fee is fixed, a percentage of the build cost, or time-charged, and which stages it covers [5]. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question rather than a bargain.
Give the surveyor what they need on the day. Clear access to the loft hatch, meters, stopcock and any outbuildings, plus anything already worrying you, such as a crack or a damp patch. Surveyors inspect visually and do not lift secured panels or test services beyond normal operation, so say in advance if you want extras such as thermal imaging or drone shots [1] [4]. For cost work, share plans, drawings and any contractor quotes so the cost plan rests on your scheme.
End with the right paperwork in hand. A home survey should arrive as a written report with traffic-light condition ratings for each element, repair advice at the middle tier and above, and a valuation and reinstatement figure where you ordered one [1]. A snagging inspection should leave a dated photographic report for the builder [4]. A quantity surveyor should leave a written cost plan and a settled final account [5]. If a report raises urgent defects, get written repair quotes before you commit, with Citizens Advice setting out your options if a trader lets you down [9].
Telford adds its own layer to all of this. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington and the Severn Gorge, where works that would elsewhere pass as permitted development can need consent [11]. Inside the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site an Article 4 Direction takes away some of those rights for every dwelling, and the council runs free planning surgeries at Madeley and Jackfield alongside a residents guide [12]. Where consent is doubtful, the council's pre-application advice or a Lawful Development Certificate through the Planning Portal settles it before you spend [10]. Whatever planning says, building regulations may still apply, so contact building control first [10] [13].
Stock varies street by street. Dawley's miners' cottages and brick terraces [15] and Madeley's market-town houses and workers' rows [16] reward the full building survey on older fabric, while Wellington's centre sits in a conservation area [11]. Lawley Village is the opposite case, thousands of new-build homes raised in phases since the mid-noughties [14], which is snagging territory. Gorge-side homes in Ironbridge fall under the Article 4 Direction, so tell the surveyor the postcode early [12].
A standard purchase survey runs to a rhythm. Your first message names the address, the property's age and construction, and why you need the report, and the surveyor replies with a tier recommendation and a written quote. Once you accept, they inspect with the loft hatch and meters accessible and send the written report inside the quoted turnaround. You then read the condition ratings, get urgent defects priced by a builder, and decide whether to proceed, renegotiate or walk away. A cost appointment follows the same shape with drawings instead of a viewing: brief, cost plan, tender comparison, then stage payments against a settled account.
For building work, two council routes sit beside the surveyor's own paperwork. A full-plans application ends in an approval notice once the council is satisfied, while a building notice suits smaller jobs and lets work start two days after a valid application lands [13]. Either way the council inspects at key stages and issues a completion certificate at the end, worth keeping for a future sale or remortgage [13]. File it with the survey report, the written quote, any contractor guarantees and the final account, so the whole job sits in one folder.
Pricing
As of summer 2026, rough Telford ranges for home surveys run like this: a level one report from around £300 to £500, a level two homebuyer survey between £450 and £750, and a full level three building survey from £700 to over £1,500 [3]. Telford usually sits below London and South East prices [3] [7]. Use them to sense-check what you are offered.
Snagging inspections are simpler to price because most firms publish fixed menus. National guides put a standard snagging survey from around £320, rising with property size toward £500 and above for large houses [4]. Thermal imaging, drone shots and a re-inspection after the builder returns all add to the bill [4]. In this round, JC Property Snagging publishes fixed prices by property size on its directory profile, the clearest menu in the table.
Quantity surveying is priced differently again. Full cost-management appointments are commonly charged as a percentage of the build cost, often in the low single digits, while smaller briefs suit fixed fees or time-charged day rates [5]. Lender-ordered cost reviews on development schemes run into the low thousands, a different service from a homeowner's extension budget [5]. Whatever the basis, the percentage means nothing without the scope beside it.
Specialist valuations price by purpose rather than bedroom count. A shared ownership or Help to Buy redemption figure, a probate valuation for an executor, and a matrimonial valuation each carry their own format and liability, so the fee follows the paperwork rather than the property. Lender panels and deadlines add their own terms, and a valuation tied to a purchase often sits beside a survey tier on the same quote. Ask what standard the valuation meets and who will accept it before you compare figures.
Size, age and complexity move every price: bigger and older homes take longer to inspect and non-standard construction needs closer reading [3]. Ask whether VAT is included or added, since the standard rate is a fifth on top and some menus state prices either way [6]. Get the scope, the fee, the VAT position and the report date in writing before work starts.
Red flags
Quotes a survey without asking the property's age, size, construction type or reason for the report.
Cannot give a surveyor or firm name you can find yourself on the RICS member or firm search [2].
Presents a lender's mortgage valuation as a survey when you asked for a condition report [3].
Offers cost advice on building work with no written scope saying which stages the fee covers [5].
Asks for full payment in cash before the inspection, with no written quote or terms.
Finishes the job with a verbal verdict and no written, dated report [1].
Promises a snagging list the builder will accept without inspecting every room and photographing each defect [4].
Will not put the scope, fee, VAT position and report date in writing before you agree anything [6].
Sends a single lump-sum figure with no breakdown of the tier, the extras or the VAT position.
Presses for a decision on the doorstep or a deposit before your solicitor or lender has seen any report.