A buyer emails three concerns before the inspection: a stain in an upstairs room, a crack near a window and uncertainty about an alteration. Those questions may be central to the instruction, but they can become separated from the surveyor’s notes when the report is handed over for drafting.
The answer is not to turn each concern into a defect. It is to preserve the question, link it to what the surveyor actually established and make the intended response clear. A small concern register can help a practice do this consistently when using outsourced Level 2 report drafting.
Start with the question the buyer actually asked
RICS advises buyers to raise particular property concerns with their surveyor so that the service and advice address their needs. Its consumer guidance also recommends discussing particular requirements before the inspection. See the RICS guide to home surveys.
Keep a short, accurate record of each question and its location. “Is the staining in the rear bedroom evidence of a leak?” is more useful than “damp concern”. Identify whether the statement came from the buyer, the seller or another source. A reported history is not the same as a condition observed at the inspection.
Before handing material to a writer, the inspecting surveyor should confirm how the concern fits the agreed instruction. A question about a proposed alteration should not silently become a promise to provide design advice. If additional services or a different scope need discussing, that is a matter for the surveyor and the instructing party, not the drafter.
Give each concern a simple reference
References such as Q1, Q2 and Q3 make it easier to link correspondence, site notes and outstanding queries. These are internal working references; they do not need to appear in the issued report. Use the same room and elevation descriptions throughout the inspection pack.
The register does not replace the full inspection record. Its purpose is to make the buyer’s questions visible alongside the evidence and the surveyor’s instructions. For the rest of the handover, see our guide to preparing site notes for a report writer.
Separate the concern, the finding and the advice
| Concern | Evidence needed from the surveyor | Drafting action |
|---|---|---|
| Q1: Buyer reports staining in the rear bedroom. | Located observations, any recorded readings, relevant access restrictions and the surveyor’s assessment. | Describe only the supplied findings and advice; query any missing conclusion. |
| Q2: Buyer asks about a crack beside a window. | Correct window location, recorded extent and the surveyor’s intended explanation and next steps. | Keep the location precise; do not assign a cause or significance independently. |
| Q3: Buyer asks whether an alteration had approval. | What was observed, what documents were supplied and the surveyor’s intended legal enquiry. | Distinguish document enquiries from physical findings; do not imply approval has been verified. |
These are fictional handover examples, not findings or recommendations for a real property. The drafter should not derive ratings, diagnoses or investigation instructions from the questions alone. Those decisions and instructions must come from the inspecting surveyor.
Do not turn an unanswered question into reassurance
If the notes do not address a concern, place it on the query list. “Nothing recorded” does not mean “no defect present”. Equally, an anxious question is not evidence that a serious defect exists. The draft should reflect what was established and what remains uncertain.
Ask for the missing location, observation or instruction specifically. Where inspection was restricted, record the supplied limitation and seek the surveyor’s direction on its implications. Our article on briefing a writer on damp, cracking and roof defects explains how to keep observations and conclusions distinct.
Place the response where the reader can find it
The answer may belong in an element section, a legal enquiry or another part of the agreed template. The writer can organise the supplied material, but should not force every concern into the same kind of recommendation. Avoid repeating conflicting versions of the answer across different sections.
Where a concern has more than one aspect, identify the linked sections for review. An alteration, for example, may involve a recorded physical observation and a separate request for documents. Neither should be written as proof of the other.
Close the loop during final review
Before approval, the inspecting surveyor can work through the concern register and confirm that each item has an evidence-based response, a clear limitation or an agreed next action. Any technical clarification should be incorporated into the controlled working draft rather than left in a separate email that the reader will never receive.
Use the register alongside the normal pre-issue report checks. It is a practical aid, not a substitute for reviewing the whole report or deciding whether the instruction has been fulfilled.
Give your drafting support the complete brief
The Survey Edit prepares Level 2 report drafts from inspection notes, photographs, templates and instructions supplied by professional surveyors. Include the buyer’s concerns and your intended responses in that pack so they remain connected to the relevant report sections. You retain the professional judgement and review, approve and issue the final report.
Read about our Level 2 report drafting service, view a notes-to-draft example or enquire about your next instruction.
You inspect. We write.