What is RICS?
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is an independent professional body which regulates specialists belonging to the property industry.
RICS establishes, regulates and maintains standards in the property industry; all RICS members are professionals who can be trusted.
RICS members
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors closely regulates its members, and all surveyors have to follow strict codes of conduct to guarantee that high standards are met, in the public interest.
To become qualified with RICS, strict requirements for both education and experience must be adhered to, with the result that all RICS members are qualified to assist in all areas of property matters.
RICS supplies training to ensure that the skills, expertise and knowledge of all their members is maintained as relevant and up to date while they are serving as a RICS member.
RICS members may offer residential property surveys, supplying independent advice and expertise to home buyers.
If you want a home buyers survey London has firms including SAM Conveyancing (https://www.samconveyancing.co.uk/Homebuyers-Survey/Home-Buyers-Survey-London).
The RICS’s website is https://www.rics.org/uk/.
Employing a RICS surveyor
Given that buying a house is probably going to be your biggest purchase, it makes sense to ask a RICS surveyor to check it out before completing the sale. Your Chartered Surveyor’s report may save you huge amounts of money on expensive repair bills if defects are uncovered.
RICS members offer:
– independent, knowledgeable and clear advice
– insurance to protect you
– continual updates to their knowledge and skills
– a complaints procedure.
Since you pay them direct, the Chartered Surveyor works for you alone and acts in your best interests, supplying impartial knowledge about the property you are buying.
You can talk to the surveyor before and after their property visit. You can, in fact, accompany them if you want to deal with matters that arise on the spot or have particular concerns. After the visit, the surveyor can clarify matters and talk you through the salient points. Employ a surveyor with knowledge of the local market for an informed outlook.
Surveyors can also help with party wall matters, extending a lease and boundary disputes.
What to look for
When choosing your surveyor, seek out the words ‘Regulated by RICS’. This guarantees an independent and expertly-produced Building Survey or HomeBuyer Report.