A request for a guarantee, approval or other document can look like a short production note. In a Level 2 report, however, the request needs a clear reason and a clear boundary. The drafter must know what the inspecting surveyor wants raised without guessing at the legal position or implying that a document proves more than it does.
A structured handover allows an outsourced writer to place the enquiry in the correct section and connect it to the relevant observation. The inspecting surveyor still decides whether the matter should be raised, approves the wording and remains responsible for the report issued to the client.
Keep the report format and professional boundary visible
The official RICS Home Survey Level 2 report template includes documents that may be requested before contracts are signed and a section for issues that legal advisers may need to investigate. It also states that the surveyor does not act as a legal adviser or comment on legal documents.
The RICS description of the Level 2 service uses the “R” category for documents that may be requested before contracts are signed. The published RICS Home Survey Standard also requires Level 2 reporting to make clear that recommended further advice and quotations should be obtained before the client enters into a legal commitment.
Those sources support a useful drafting distinction: the report can identify a matter for the client’s legal adviser, while the surveyor avoids interpreting the legal effect of the document. This article describes a production workflow, not legal advice.
Separate three different instructions
“Check paperwork” is too broad. It may conceal three different actions, each of which belongs in different wording:
- A document request: ask the legal adviser to establish whether a specified guarantee, approval, certificate or other record is available.
- A legal enquiry: ask the legal adviser to investigate a right, responsibility, restriction or other conveyancing matter identified by the surveyor.
- A technical recommendation: advise the client to obtain a further investigation, specialist opinion or quotation where the surveyor cannot reach a conclusion with reasonable confidence or where work is required.
More than one action may arise from the same observation, but they should not be blended into one vague sentence. A document cannot replace a technical inspection, and a drafter should not convert a technical uncertainty into a legal conclusion.
Use a five-part instruction for each enquiry
| Field | What to record | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Element and location | The report section and the affected component, alteration or area. | Keeps the enquiry connected to the relevant finding. |
| Inspection trigger | The observation, seller statement or supplied information that prompted the enquiry. | Prevents the wording from presenting an assumption as an established fact. |
| Exact request | The specific document or question the surveyor wants the legal adviser to pursue. | Replaces “check paperwork” with an actionable instruction. |
| Purpose | What the client needs clarified before legal commitment. | Explains the relevance without asking the drafter to give legal advice. |
| Connected wording | Any element paragraph, risk, summary or overall-opinion text that must agree. | Reduces contradictions across the report. |
This is a suggested production record, not an RICS-prescribed form. The surveyor should adapt it to the practice’s reporting format and terms of engagement.
Write the request from the evidence available
Suppose replacement windows are visible and the surveyor wants the client’s legal adviser to establish whether a relevant installation record or guarantee exists. The brief should identify the windows, the basis for the enquiry and the precise request. It should not say that the installation was approved, compliant or covered unless that has been properly established and the surveyor intends to make that statement.
The same discipline applies to alterations, damp-proofing work, roof repairs or shared arrangements. Record what was observed or reported, then state what the legal adviser is asked to investigate. Where the source is information from the owner or agent, preserve that attribution. Our guide to seller information and evidence explains how to keep those sources visible in the draft.
Do not turn missing documents into a finding
A document that is absent from the inspection pack may still exist elsewhere. Its absence from the pack does not prove that work lacked approval, that a guarantee was never issued or that a legal right does not exist. The draft should describe the uncertainty and the enquiry required, rather than declaring an unsupported outcome.
If the handover says only “no paperwork seen”, the writer should raise a query. The inspecting surveyor can then decide whether the report should request a particular record, recommend separate technical advice, or do both. The drafting query-log workflow is useful for recording that decision before the wording is finalised.
Keep document status out of the drafter’s assumptions
An outsourced writer should not assume that the client’s legal adviser has received, accepted or interpreted a document. If later information arrives, update the instruction with its source and the surveyor’s required change. Do not silently remove the enquiry or describe the matter as resolved.
Where a document may affect technical advice, the surveyor should decide what further information is needed and who is competent to provide it. The writer can reflect that instruction consistently; they should not interpret warranties, consents, leases or other legal documents on the surveyor’s behalf.
Review connected sections before issue
During review, trace each enquiry back to its originating observation. Check that the element paragraph, document request, legal-adviser section, summary and overall opinion do not make different claims. Confirm that the named document or question is specific, the reason is clear and the timing suits the advice.
The surveyor should also remove placeholders, resolve drafting queries and confirm that no wording promises an outcome from the legal adviser. These checks sit alongside the wider Level 2 report quality review.
Make the boundary part of the outsourcing brief
The Survey Edit provides outsourced RICS Level 2 report drafting support from the surveyor’s notes, photographs, template and instructions. We can place supplied document requests and legal enquiries into the relevant report sections, maintain source wording and flag gaps for clarification. We do not decide the legal position or replace the inspecting surveyor’s professional review.
The inspecting surveyor checks every draft against the inspection record, amends it where necessary, approves the final advice and issues the report. To discuss a Level 2 drafting workflow for your practice, send The Survey Edit an enquiry.
You inspect. We write.