Every published price guide in this country is written either by a lead generation website or by a company that also sells the repair. This one is written by a surveyor who does not sell repairs, and it names its sources.
The headline figures you find online range from £150 to well over £1,000, which is not much help until you know that they are not describing the same piece of work. A cheap number and an expensive number usually buy two different things. Here is the market as its own guides describe it, in September 2026.
| What you are buying | Published price | Thermal imaging |
|---|---|---|
| A visual inspection Someone looks, uses a meter, gives an opinion | Free to £250 | No |
| A basic damp survey Typical home, no specialist equipment | £150 to £300 | No |
| Thermal imaging, added on Charged as an extra by most firms | £200 to £350 on top | — |
| A damp and timber survey Priced by property size | £200 to £600 | Not stated |
| An independent damp survey By someone who does not do the works | £300 to £600 £700 and above in London | Not stated |
| A specialist or forensic investigation Complex, heritage or contested cases | £600 to £1,200+ | Usually |
| Vigilant Surveys Independent, no remedial work sold | £350 the problem areas £450 the whole property | Included |
Sources, all read September 2026: Checkatrade damp survey cost guide (£200 for a two bed flat, £400 for a three bed terrace, £600 for a four bed detached), Federation of Damp 2026 guide (£150 to £300 for a typical home, £350 to £500 and above for large or listed), MyBuilder price guide (visual inspection £150 to £250, thermal imaging £200 to £350 as a separate line), BookaBuilderUK 2026 guide (independent survey £300 to £600, specialist investigation £600 to £1,200 and above), In Situ Specialist Consulting (diagnostic survey £299 to £450 plus VAT).
We are not the cheapest survey you will find, and we are comfortable saying so, because we believe in the work we do and we would rather be clear about what it is than compete on a number.
Thermal imaging is part of every survey, not an extra line. Most firms quote it separately at £200 to £350 on top. Moisture mapping, surface temperatures and a control reading are in the fee as well, and so is the written report.
The price is fixed before we arrive and there are no surprises afterwards. The figure you are quoted is the total payable. No payment is taken to book, there is no charge for travel anywhere we work, and if it turns out you do not need a survey we will tell you on the phone rather than come out anyway.
What you receive is a clear, logical report built on evidence you can see. Recorded readings rather than impressions, photographs and thermal images side by side, the alternatives we ruled out and why, and a conclusion that follows from the measurements. It is a document you can act on, send to a solicitor, a lender or a landlord, and take to any contractor you choose.
One practical note on comparing quotes. Most of the published guides do not say whether their figures include VAT, and specialist practices normally quote plus VAT, which on a £400 survey is the difference between £400 and £480. It is worth asking the question on the phone, with anybody.
A free damp survey is not charity and it is not a loss leader. It is a sales visit. The company sending the surveyor makes its money from the works, so the visit is paid for out of the job that follows it, which means the visit has to produce a job.
That does not make the surveyor dishonest. Plenty of them are good at what they do. It does mean that the person deciding whether your house needs £3,000 of work is the same person who gets paid if it does, and no amount of professional integrity removes that from the room.
What you get for free is a quotation. What you are usually looking for is a diagnosis. They are not the same document and they are not written for the same purpose.
People weigh the survey fee against nothing, which makes any fee feel like too much. Weigh it against the decision it governs instead. Published UK costs for the works in 2026 look like this.
| The work | Published cost |
|---|---|
| Chemical damp proof course injection | £60 to £90 per linear metre, £650 to £3,400 for a full treatment |
| Physical membrane system | £1,500 to £4,500 |
| Tanking | £2,800 to £6,700 |
| Replastering after treatment | £450 to £800 per room |
| Average overall damp proofing job | Around £1,250 |
Source: MyJobQuote damp proofing cost guide, 2026.
A survey costs less than replastering one room. If the diagnosis is right, that is the cheapest part of the whole exercise. If it is wrong, you have paid for the works, the replastering and the redecoration, and the damp comes back in the autumn because nobody dealt with the cause.
There is a recognised methodology for this, and it is worth knowing it exists, because most homeowners do not. Investigation of moisture and its effects on traditional buildings is a joint position statement published in 2022 by RICS with Historic England and the Property Care Association, and supported by SPAB, the IHBC and the national heritage bodies for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Four of its principles are worth quoting, because you can hold any surveyor to them.
“Provide a holistic diagnosis that identifies and deals with causes, rather than focusing on symptoms.”
“Dealing with damp is often a staged process. Allow a period for monitoring and natural evaporation, and reassess before moving on to other treatments.”
“Recommendations for works must be proportionate to the defect and the significance of the building.”
“Any conflicts of interest should be clearly stated.”
Investigation of moisture and its effects on traditional buildings, joint position statement, RICS, Historic England and the Property Care Association, 2022
The statement was written for traditional and historic buildings, so it does not govern every job. The thinking behind it applies to any house. Find the cause. Do the smallest thing first. Watch what happens. Say plainly what you stand to gain.
Clients ask about this more than anything else, so it is worth setting out before you book. The diagnosis is ours to get right. What you then do about it depends on your building, your circumstances and your budget, and that part we work out together.
Notice that the guidance above says recommendations must be proportionate, and that dealing with damp is often a staged process. Those are not loopholes. They are the profession recognising that the fullest possible specification is not automatically the right answer for every house or every owner.
So tell us which of these you want, on the phone or on the day.
Industry best practice, specified properly and in full. Usually the most expensive route, and the right one when the building warrants it, or when the report has to stand up in a sale, a lease or a dispute.
Often the cause is one defect, and dealing with that defect properly is far less work than a standard remedial specification would suggest. Where that is the case we will say so, and explain what we would leave alone.
Sometimes the work has to wait, for money, for a tenancy, for the weather. We will tell you how to hold the situation, what to watch for, and what happens if it is left. That is a legitimate answer, and far more use than a specification you cannot act on this year.
Asking for any of these changes what we write, not what we charge. The fee is the same either way, because the diagnosis is the same piece of work. We have nothing to gain from the largest recommendation, which is the entire reason we do not sell the repairs.
Whoever you use, and whatever they charge, these are the things that separate a diagnosis from a look round. Ask for them by name.
Two numbers, the same everywhere we work, from Suffolk and North London to the West Midlands.
The £350 covers the affected room or rooms together with anywhere else that needs inspecting to find the cause, normally the rooms above, below and either side, and the roof space or subfloor where relevant. The outside is inspected where it is needed to find the source, not as a matter of course. You are not charged by the room. If you would rather we went through the entire property, that is the £450 fee. HMOs, commercial property and unusually large houses are quoted.
We carry out no remedial work, sell no products, and take no commission or referral fee from anyone who carries out repairs. We do not have a recommended contractor either. There is no job at the end of the visit for us to win, which is the whole point of paying for the survey rather than taking a free one.
Published guides put a basic survey at £150 to £300, an independent damp survey at £300 to £600, and specialist investigation above £600. Thermal imaging is usually charged separately at £200 to £350 on top. Vigilant Surveys charges £350 for the problem areas, £450 for the whole property, or £500 for the whole property with indicative costs for the work, with thermal imaging included in all three.
Because they are different jobs. The cheap end of the market is a visual inspection, often carried out free by a company that hopes to sell you the repair. The expensive end is a diagnostic survey with instruments, recorded readings and a written report you own. Ask which one you are being offered before comparing prices.
It is worth having as a quotation, and it costs you nothing to get one. It is not an independent diagnosis, because the person carrying it out is paid from the work it recommends. If you want to know what is actually wrong before you spend money, that is a different job.
Yes, and we would rather you asked. Tell us whether you want industry best practice specified in full, a proportionate solution that deals with the cause without the extras, or advice on managing the problem until the work can be done. It changes what we write, not what we charge.
Usually the guides do not say, and specialist practices normally quote plus VAT, so always ask. The figure we quote you is the total payable.
If you have one problem and want to know its cause, a damp survey answers it for less. A full building survey covers the whole property's condition and generally will not take moisture readings in the detail needed to diagnose a specific damp problem, which is why building surveys so often end with a recommendation to get a damp specialist in.
No. Not ever. We tell you what is causing it and what needs doing, and you take that to whoever you like.
No payment to book. Tell us what you need and Rory will call you back, usually within a couple of hours, to talk it through and confirm a fixed price.