RICS Home Survey Standard 2nd Edition: What Residential Surveyors Need to Know

Last updated: 1 September 2026

The RICS Home Survey Standard has provided the framework for residential property survey services since the 1st Edition became effective in March 2021.

RICS is now developing a 2nd Edition.

For residential surveyors, this naturally raises a few questions. What is changing? When will the new standard take effect? Will Level 2 survey processes need to change? And is there anything firms should be doing now?

The short answer: the final 2nd Edition has not yet been published. The consultation has closed and RICS is continuing to work through the feedback, meaning surveyors should be cautious about treating the consultation draft as a final set of requirements.

That said, the draft provides a useful indication of the direction RICS sees residential surveying taking.

Where does the RICS Home Survey Standard 2nd Edition currently stand?

The consultation on the draft 2nd Edition ran from 19 August to 14 October 2025.

RICS has since confirmed that it received more than 1,000 comments and is continuing to work through detailed feedback with the Expert Working Group and other professional bodies. RICS has said that an updated publication timeline will be shared as the draft develops.

For now, the important practical point is straightforward:

RICS members should continue to work to the Home Survey Standard 1st Edition until the 2nd Edition is published and comes fully into effect.

The consultation draft is useful for understanding the proposed direction of travel, but it is not the final standard. Requirements, wording and implementation details may change before publication.

This distinction matters, particularly for firms considering changes to templates, processes or reporting software. There is little value in rebuilding an entire workflow around requirements that may yet change.

Why is RICS updating the Home Survey Standard?

The existing standard was first published in 2019 and became effective in 2021. Since then, both the residential property market and surveying practice have continued to change.

RICS says feedback from members and its regulatory activity highlighted areas where the standard could be strengthened or clarified, while consumer research and technological developments also informed the review.

As part of the review, RICS surveyed 325 members and more than 1,400 UK homeowners who had purchased a home or commissioned a survey in the previous five years.

The proposed update is therefore not simply about rewriting report templates. It reflects wider changes in the profession, including:

  • Greater use of technology in surveying workflows
  • AI and digital tools
  • Retrofit and energy-efficiency work
  • More complex or unusual properties
  • New-build inspections
  • Drone and other inspection technologies
  • The need for greater clarity around the different levels of survey service

RICS has also emphasised that the revised standard should remain practical for surveyors while helping consumers understand what they are commissioning.

What changes has RICS proposed?

The consultation covered several significant areas. However, it is important to remember that these remain proposals until the final 2nd Edition is published.

1. Greater clarity around the different levels of survey

One of the central proposals is greater clarity around the requirements for the different levels of survey service.

This is particularly relevant to Level 2 work.

Under the current standard, RICS members must ensure their service is clearly benchmarked against one of the defined survey levels. A Level 2 survey provides a professional and objective assessment of the condition of the main elements of a property, involving a more extensive visual inspection than a Level 1 survey.

The proposed 2nd Edition appears to place further emphasis on clearly defining what clients can expect from each level of service.

For surveyors, the final version will be worth reviewing carefully for any changes to:

  • How the level of service is described
  • Inspection expectations
  • Report requirements
  • Client communication
  • The boundaries between standard and additional services

The important point for now is not to assume that the Level 2 inspection scope has already changed. It has not. Surveyors should continue to work to the current requirements until the revised standard is formally introduced.

2. A greater focus on technology and AI

Technology is one of the clearest themes emerging from the proposed update.

RICS has identified the use of technology and AI as an area the revised Home Survey Standard needs to reflect. The consultation draft also recognises developments in professional practice, including technologies used to support inspection and reporting.

This does not mean that surveyors will be required to use AI.

It also does not mean that the Home Survey Standard itself replaces RICS' separate requirements on responsible AI use.

RICS has already introduced a separate professional standard covering the responsible use of AI in surveying practice where AI has a material impact on the delivery of surveying services.

For residential surveyors, the practical direction is probably more important than the technology itself.

Modern workflows increasingly allow surveyors to:

  • Capture information digitally during inspections
  • Organise photographs alongside observations
  • Record information in a structured format
  • Reduce duplication between inspection and report writing
  • Use software to improve consistency
  • Use automation to assist with administrative work

But professional judgement remains the surveyor's responsibility.

Technology can help organise evidence and reduce repetitive work. It cannot transfer professional responsibility to an algorithm.

3. Additional risk properties

The consultation draft introduces greater attention to properties described as presenting additional risk.

The draft includes complex, dilapidated, MMC, new, non-traditional, complicated non-standard and protected properties within this broader concept. RICS has also discussed the need for surveyors to consider properties involving significant retrofit or specialist construction knowledge.

The underlying theme is competence.

A residential surveyor should not assume that every property can be approached with exactly the same level of knowledge or experience simply because the client has requested a Level 2 survey.

RICS has recently reiterated that members and regulated firms should only accept instructions they are competent to carry out. The appropriate knowledge, skills and relevant experience must be in place, and instructions should be referred or declined where they are not.

For firms, this may mean giving more thought to how instructions are assessed before they are accepted.

Questions might include:

  • Is the property within our experience?
  • Does the construction require specialist knowledge?
  • Has significant retrofit altered the building's behaviour or performance?
  • Are there protected or historic elements that require additional expertise?
  • Is a different service or additional specialist advice required?

The final standard may provide greater clarity around these situations, but surveyors should avoid assuming that "additional risk" automatically means a particular inspection level or mandatory additional service.

4. Retrofit and increasingly complex housing stock

The housing stock being surveyed today is not static.

Properties are being altered with:

  • Internal and external insulation
  • Replacement windows and doors
  • Solar installations
  • Heat pumps
  • Changes to ventilation
  • Other energy-efficiency measures

These changes can affect how a building performs and how defects should be understood.

RICS has identified retrofit as an area requiring greater consideration within the proposed 2nd Edition.

That does not mean every residential surveyor will suddenly become a retrofit assessor.

It does mean that the interaction between conventional property condition, building fabric and retrofit measures is becoming harder to ignore.

Do we have the knowledge and processes to recognise when a property's construction or alterations take us beyond the scope of our usual experience?

That question is likely to become increasingly important regardless of the final wording of the 2nd Edition.

5. Drone and modern inspection methods

The consultation proposals also recognise developments in inspection technology, including drone inspections.

This is another area where surveyors should be careful not to jump to conclusions.

The proposed recognition of drones does not mean that every surveyor will be required to own or operate one.

Instead, it reflects the fact that modern inspection methods can provide surveyors with information that was previously more difficult to obtain safely.

The more interesting professional question is how this evidence fits into the overall inspection and reporting process.

For example:

  • What does the image actually show?
  • What remains concealed or inaccessible?
  • Does additional imagery remove a limitation or simply provide a better view of part of the property?
  • What conclusions can reasonably be drawn from the inspection?
  • How should the evidence be recorded in the report?

Technology can extend what a surveyor can see. It does not automatically extend what a surveyor can reliably conclude.

6. Optional valuations across survey levels

The consultation also proposed expanding the ability for appropriately regulated surveyors to undertake valuations across the different levels of home survey service.

This was a proposal relating to VRS-regulated surveyors and should not be interpreted as a blanket change allowing any surveyor to add valuations to any report.

Until the final standard is published, surveyors should continue to follow the requirements currently applicable to the services they provide.

What does the consultation draft suggest about the future shape of home surveys?

Although the consultation draft is not final, it suggests that RICS is thinking about the home survey as a broader professional service rather than simply an inspection followed by a PDF report.

The draft describes a residential property service as including elements such as:

  • Discussions with the client before the service
  • Terms of engagement
  • Appropriate desktop research
  • A diligent physical inspection
  • A report and professional advice
  • Appropriate post-report discussion where necessary

This does not necessarily mean every survey will become more complicated.

But it does reinforce something many experienced surveyors already know: the value of the service is not created solely during the time spent walking around the property.

The wider workflow matters.

  • Understanding the instruction
  • Setting expectations
  • Gathering relevant information
  • Carrying out the inspection
  • Recording evidence
  • Applying professional judgement
  • Producing a clear report
  • Helping the client understand the result

The final 2nd Edition may change how some of these expectations are expressed, but the general direction towards clearer and more structured professional services is already apparent.

What should Level 2 surveyors do now?

The sensible response is not to rewrite your entire practice around a consultation document.

Instead, there are a few practical things worth doing.

Continue working to the 1st Edition

This is the most important point.

Until the 2nd Edition is final and fully effective, RICS members should continue to follow the current Home Survey Standard.

Keep an eye on the final standard, not just commentary about it

The consultation generated significant discussion, and there will inevitably be plenty of interpretation before the final document is published.

When the final version arrives, surveyors should review:

  1. The published 2nd Edition
  2. Any implementation date
  3. Updated RICS guidance and supporting materials
  4. Changes to Level 1, 2 and 3 documentation
  5. Any implications for terms of engagement and report templates

The final wording matters more than anyone's prediction of what it might contain.

Review your approach to competence

The proposed emphasis on additional risk properties makes this a good time to review how your practice handles unusual instructions.

Consider whether you have a clear process for identifying properties that may require:

  • Additional knowledge
  • Specialist input
  • A different survey service
  • Referral to another surveyor
  • Additional limitations or advice

This is not just preparation for a future standard. It is good professional practice now.

Keep your reporting workflow adaptable

When standards change, one of the biggest practical challenges is often updating the systems around them.

Templates need changing. Standard wording needs reviewing. Terms of engagement may need updating. Surveyors may need to capture information differently.

That is why adaptable workflows matter.

Whether a firm uses Word templates, specialist survey software or a more modern digital workflow, it should be reasonably straightforward to update:

  • Report structures
  • Standard wording
  • Inspection prompts
  • Terms and disclaimers
  • Additional services
  • Supporting evidence

This is one of the areas where tools such as Level² can be useful.

A structured inspection workflow makes it easier to capture observations and photographs in context, while reusable report content can be updated without rebuilding every report from scratch.

The technology should not dictate how a surveyor works. Ideally, it should be flexible enough to adapt when professional standards and individual practice requirements change.

The bigger picture

The final RICS Home Survey Standard 2nd Edition is still being developed, so it is too early to talk about a definitive list of new requirements.

However, the consultation proposals provide a reasonably clear indication of the issues RICS believes residential surveying needs to address.

The direction of travel includes:

  • Clearer survey service levels
  • Greater attention to competence
  • More consideration of complex and additional risk properties
  • Recognition of retrofit and changing building technologies
  • Greater integration of digital inspection methods
  • Clearer consideration of technology and AI
  • A continued focus on clear, client-specific reporting

For Level 2 surveyors, the most useful approach is probably not to wait for the final standard and then scramble to change everything.

Instead, it is worth making sure your practice is already capable of adapting.

The core of the job is unlikely to change: inspect the property diligently, work within your competence, apply professional judgement and communicate clearly with the client.

The way surveyors gather, manage and communicate the information around that process, however, is likely to continue evolving.

And the 2nd Edition of the Home Survey Standard looks set to reflect that.

Sources and further reading

This article is based on information published by RICS and the consultation draft for the proposed Home Survey Standard 2nd Edition. The consultation draft is not the final standard. RICS members should continue to refer to the current Home Survey Standard and official RICS guidance until the 2nd Edition is formally published and takes effect.