Glossary of Survey Terms
14 October 2025If you’ve not had to engage the services of a surveyor before it can feel a little overwhelming with the new terms and phrases of nomenclature in the Industry.
Here’s our straightforward A-Z guide to survey terms and what they mean.
Access rights The legal right to enter and use land or property, often for maintenance or passage (e.g., a right of way).
Affordable housing Housing for people whose needs are not met by the market, usually provided by local councils or housing associations at reduced cost.
Architect A qualified professional responsible for the design of buildings, often involved from concept through to construction.
Asbestos A naturally occurring silicate mineral, once widely used in building materials, now regulated due to serious health risks.
Auctions A public sale where property or land is sold to the highest bidder.
Boundary Disputes Legal disagreements between property owners regarding the precise line or feature that separates their land.
Building Control The statutory function of ensuring building work complies with the Building Regulations, often carried out by local authority or approved inspector.
Building Regulations A set of legal requirements relating to the design and construction of new and altered buildings to ensure minimum standards for health, safety, welfare, and sustainability.
Building Surveys Comprehensive inspections and reports on the condition of a property, typically for older, larger, or non-standard construction homes. (Often synonymous with the RICS Home Survey – Level 3).
Capital Allowances Tax relief that businesses can claim on certain capital expenditure (e.g., plant and machinery) used in their commercial property.
Commercial property/estates Property used for business purposes, such as offices, retail, industrial units, or hotels.
Commercial services charges Costs levied by a landlord on commercial tenants to cover the operation, maintenance, and repair of the common parts of a building or estate.
Comparable Evidence Data (often recent sale or rental prices) from similar properties used by a surveyor to support a valuation.
Contract Administration The process of managing a building contract, including issuing instructions, valuations, and certifying payments, often carried out by a surveyor or architect.
Damp The presence of unwanted moisture in a building’s structure, which can be caused by condensation, penetrating damp, or rising damp.
Defects Flaws, shortcomings, or failures in the design, materials, or workmanship of a building element or component.
Defect Diagnosis The systematic process of investigating the cause of a building defect, such as damp or cracking.
Dilapidations The legal and financial liabilities under a commercial lease for a tenant to put the premises into a defined state of repair and condition at the end of the lease term.
Disagreeing with survey A formal process where a client challenges the findings, valuation, or advice contained within a surveyor’s report.
Dispute resolution A process, such as mediation or arbitration, used to settle disagreements between parties (e.g., landlord/tenant, or neighbours) without recourse to litigation.
Down Valuation A situation where a lender’s surveyor assesses the value of a property as being lower than the price the buyer has agreed to pay.
Energy assessment A survey to determine the energy efficiency of a building and to recommend improvements.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) A document that gives a property an energy efficiency rating (A to G) and recommends how to improve it, legally required for most property sales and rentals.
Estate Agent A person or business that markets and negotiates the sale or rental of property on behalf of clients.
Expert Witness A surveyor appointed to provide an impartial, specialist opinion on a matter (e.g., defects, valuation) in legal proceedings or tribunals.
Extensions Additions to the original footprint or volume of an existing building.
External Wall Survey A focused investigation, often involving cladding, insulation, and fire safety, to determine the construction and safety of a building’s external walls (e.g., a process required by an EWS1 form).
Facilities Management A professional discipline encompassing multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process, and technology.
Fire Safety Measures taken to prevent fire, protect occupants, and limit the spread of fire within a building, governed by law and Building Regulations.
Fixtures & Fittings A legal distinction: Fixtures are items attached to the property and assumed to be included in the sale; Fittings are movable items (e.g., curtains, furniture) that are not.
Freehold The outright ownership of land and all buildings on it for an indefinite period (the most complete form of ownership).
Home Surveys A collective term for the range of pre-purchase residential inspection services (e.g., RICS Home Survey Levels 1, 2, and 3).
Inheritance Tax Valuation An official valuation of property required by HMRC upon the death of an owner for the purposes of calculating any Inheritance Tax liability.
Insolvency A financial state where a person or company cannot pay their debts; surveyors may be instructed by an insolvency practitioner for valuation or asset disposal.
Insurance A contract providing financial coverage against loss or damage to property (e.g., buildings insurance, professional indemnity insurance).
Japanese Knotweed An aggressive, fast-growing invasive plant that can cause damage to paving, drains, and foundations, and is a material consideration in surveys and valuations.
Land Use The way in which land is used, managed, or modified by humans (e.g., residential, commercial, agricultural), regulated by planning control.
Landlord & Tenant The legal relationship between the owner of a property (landlord) and the party granted temporary possession and use of it (tenant) under a lease or tenancy agreement.
Leasehold A form of property tenure where a person owns the right to use the property for a fixed period (the term of the lease), but not the land itself.
Letting The process of renting out property to a tenant under a tenancy agreement or lease.
Lifecycle Costing An economic evaluation of the cost of an asset over its entire life, including initial purchase, installation, operation, maintenance, and disposal.
Loft Conversions The alteration of an existing roof space into habitable accommodation, subject to Building Regulations and often planning permission.
Mapping The preparation of plans and geographical data, often by measured survey, to record land boundaries, topography, and property features.
Margins of Error The expected range of inaccuracy or tolerance in a survey measurement or valuation figure.
Measured Survey The systematic measurement of a building or site to produce accurate plans, sections, and elevations.
Minimus Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) A legal requirement that currently prevents landlords in England and Wales from letting out commercial and domestic properties with an EPC rating of F or G.
Mortgage Valuations A brief inspection and report for a lender to confirm the property is adequate security for the loan being offered. (The basic RICS Home Survey – Level 1 is sometimes adequate).
Mundic A condition, mainly found in the South West of England, where poor quality aggregates in concrete decay over time, potentially leading to structural failure.
Negligence A breach of a professional duty of care resulting in foreseeable damage or loss to the client (e.g., a surveyor failing to spot a major defect).
Neighbourly Disputes Disagreements between adjacent property owners, often relating to boundaries, trees, noise, or shared structures (e.g., Party Walls).
Party Walls A wall shared between two or more properties, or a wall built on a boundary; works affecting it are subject to the Party Wall Act.
Period Property A property built during a specific historical era (e.g., Victorian, Edwardian, Georgian) which may present specific construction issues.
Planned Development Large-scale construction projects or the strategic growth of an area, often requiring master planning and multiple planning consents.
Planned Preventative Maintenance A proactive strategy of scheduled maintenance and inspection to prevent building components from failing and to prolong their useful life.
Planning Application A formal submission to the local planning authority seeking permission to carry out proposed building work or change of land use.
Planning Control The regulation of how land is developed and used, exercised by the local authority through planning policy and decision-making.
Planning Enforcement The action taken by a local authority to rectify breaches of planning control (e.g., building without permission).
Private Streets Roads and access ways not adopted or maintained by the local highway authority, where maintenance responsibility usually falls to the adjacent property owners.
Procurement The process of selecting and managing contractors, consultants, and suppliers to deliver a construction project or service.
Property Management The overseeing of residential, commercial, or industrial real estate, including maintenance, rent collection, and tenant management.
Quantity Surveying The branch of surveying that deals with construction costs, contracts, and financial management of construction projects.
Rating The process of valuing non-domestic (commercial) property for the purposes of calculating Business Rates (local taxation).
Rebuilding Costs Assessments See Reinstatement Cost Assessment.
Reinstatement Cost Assessment A professional estimate of the total cost required to rebuild a property exactly as it was, used to determine the correct level of buildings insurance coverage.
Rent Review A clause in a commercial lease detailing the process and timing for reassessing the rent payable to the current market rate.
Repair & Restoration Works carried out to return a deteriorated building or element to a good or original condition.
Residential Property Types Classifications of homes based on their form (e.g., detached, semi-detached, terrace, flat) and construction period.
Residential Surveys Inspections of homes carried out for potential buyers or owners (e.g., RICS Home Surveys).
Residential Tenure The legal basis on which a property is owned or occupied (e.g., freehold, leasehold, shared ownership).
Retail Property Commercial property used for the sale of goods and services to the public (e.g., shops, shopping centres).
RICS Home Survey – Levels 1, 2, 3 The current suite of standardised, structured reports offered by RICS-regulated surveyors, offering increasing levels of detail and advice (1: basic condition report; 2: survey with valuation; 3: comprehensive building survey).
Rights To Light A legal easement giving an owner the right to a specific amount of daylight through defined windows, which can restrict neighbouring development.
Risk Management The identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks to a property or project, followed by coordinated application of resources to minimise, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unfortunate events.
Sale & Leaseback A transaction where a property owner sells a commercial asset and immediately leases it back from the new owner, converting a capital asset into a lease liability.
Service Charges Costs levied on tenants (often residential leaseholders) to cover the costs of managing, maintaining, and repairing the common parts of a building or estate.
Site Inspection A visit to a property or construction site to check its condition, progress, or compliance with specifications/regulations.
SKA Rating An environmental assessment method for non-domestic refurbishments and fit-outs, benchmarked against best practice.
Snagging Survey A post-construction inspection, typically on a new build, to identify minor defects or incomplete works (snags) before the buyer completes.
Solar Panels Devices (Photovoltaic/PV or thermal) installed on a building, often the roof, to generate electricity or heat water using solar energy.
Stamp Duty/ Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT); a tax paid to the government on the purchase of land and property in England and Northern Ireland.
Stock Condition The overall state of repair and standard of maintenance across a portfolio of properties, often assessed for social housing providers.
Storm Damage Damage to property caused by extreme weather, such as high winds, heavy rain, or flooding, typically covered by buildings insurance.
Subsidence & Settlement Subsidence is the downward movement of the ground beneath a building, not caused by the weight of the building; Settlement is the downward movement of the building itself, usually following construction.
Tax Allowance A general term for deductions from income or expenditure that reduce a property owner’s or business’s tax liability (e.g., Capital Allowances).
Tenant Fees Act 2019 Legislation that primarily bans most fees charged to tenants by landlords and letting agents in the private rented sector in England.
Tree Roots A common cause of damage to foundations, drains, and paving, particularly on shrinkable clay soils, often leading to subsidence.
Valuation A professional assessment of a property’s market value, for purposes like mortgage, sale, tax, or investment.
Zoning A system of land-use planning, mainly used in the US but similar to the UK’s planning control system, which designates areas for specific uses (e.g., residential, industrial).
