You book one, and you make sure it answers the questions your surveyor could not. A Level 2 or Level 3 survey can tell you a wall reads damp. It cannot tell you why, whether it is still active, or what it will take to put right, which is why the surveyor has told you to get a specialist in.
What you book with us is the Whole Property Survey with Costings. It is the one we recommend for buyers, because it is the only one of ours that gives indicative costs for the work.
Everything in our Whole Property Survey, plus a realistic idea of what it will cost to put right. We inspect every room we can get into, the loft where access allows and a full outside inspection. We find the cause of the damp, not just the symptom, then give you indicative costs for the work needed to fix it. Your report is ready within 24 hours of the survey, and Rory will call you afterwards to talk it through.
Damp and mould are a symptom. Until you know the cause you cannot know what it will take to put right. The cause, how far it goes and a realistic cost to put it right, from someone with no interest in the answer. You can plan your budget, and make your decision, on facts.
The estate agent will probably suggest a damp proofing company who will come out for nothing. That inspection ends in a quote for their own work, which is not the same thing as an independent answer. This report is different in four ways.
We take the findings from your Level 2 or Level 3 report one at a time. High reading in the corner of the kitchen. External ground level above the internal floor at the rear. Staining around the extension. For each one we tell you what it actually is, whether it is active or historic, and what is causing it.
Rising damp, penetrating damp, condensation, a leaking gutter and a plaster bridge all set off a moisture meter in the same way, and they cost wildly different amounts to fix. We use thermal imaging, moisture readings and dew point readings inside and out to tell them apart, so you are not paying for a damp course the house does not need.
For each defect we give the class of work that fixes it, with the measurements taken on the day and an indicative cost range from published trade cost guides, named and dated in the report. It is not a quote and we do not do the work. It is a range with a source behind it, so you can plan your budget.
We carry out no remedial work, sell no products, and take no commission or referral fee from anyone who carries out repairs. The report is prepared for you, the person named on the booking. Share it with your solicitor or anyone you like, but only you can rely on it.
Every survey is carried out with a Protimeter MMS3, a professional moisture meter used by surveyors and damp specialists across the UK. It measures four things, not one: moisture in the material, moisture beneath the surface without damaging it, humidity and dew point in the air, and surface temperature. Together they show whether damp is coming through a wall or forming on it, which is the difference between penetrating damp and condensation.
But a meter doesn't diagnose damp. A surveyor does. Rory built houses from the foundations up with a master builder before the Royal Marines, and has renovated and extended period homes ever since. That is what tells him what the readings mean in a real house, and when a reading can mislead. Good instruments and experience together are how we find the cause, not just the symptom.
We work around the fact that it is not your house.
We arrange access through the agent or the seller, and we can usually attend within the week. On the day we inspect every room we can get into, the loft where access allows and it is safely boarded, and a full outside inspection, using a ladder where it is necessary and safe. We look hardest at every point your surveyor raised and everywhere that could be causing it.
The survey is non invasive. We use a moisture meter, thermal imaging and humidity readings. We do not drill, lift floors, remove fittings or move heavy furniture, and we cannot open anything the seller has not agreed to. If an area cannot be inspected, the report says so and explains what that means for your decision.
If something invasive would help, such as lifting a short length of skirting or taking a small masonry sample to test for salts, we name it separately in the report so you can decide whether to ask the seller for it. We do not assume it and we do not do it on the day.
Where we see timber defects we record what we see and take readings, but this is a damp survey, not a specialist timber survey. And we cannot certify that an extension or previous work complies with Building Regulations. We describe the construction and detailing as we find it, and we tell you whether it is causing the readings. Sign off is a question for Building Control and your solicitor.
The paragraphs on damp, the photographs, and the address. If you have any old damp proofing or timber treatment guarantee from the seller, send that too.
Through the agent or the seller. Nothing to pay to book. You are welcome on the day.
Each of the surveyor's points answered, the cause, the class of work, the measurements and the indicative costs, with photographs and thermal images.
Once you have the report, Rory calls you to answer your questions and give any further guidance. It is part of the fee.
Invoice on the day, payable by bank transfer, and the report is released when payment clears. The figure you are quoted is the total payable.
The costs are indicative ranges, not a quote. We carry out no remedial work, sell no products, and take no commission or referral fee from anyone who carries out repairs, so the report says the same thing whoever books it. It isn't a Level 2 or Level 3 building survey or a valuation, and it doesn't meet any lender requirement. The report is for the person who books it. You're welcome to share it, but only you can rely on it.
See a real one. Download a real Vigilant pre purchase report with costings (PDF, 53 pages, 4 MB). Every reading, photograph and cost is as reported; only the client and the address have been removed, with the client's permission.
Not buying? The same survey is booked by homeowners who want to compare quotes and by sellers whose buyer's survey has flagged damp. See who it is for, or see what every published guide says a damp survey costs.
If your Level 2 or Level 3 survey has recommended one, yes, because the surveyor is telling you there is something they could not resolve on the day. Damp readings on their own do not tell you whether the problem is a small repair or a big job, and you want to know which before you commit.
Our Whole Property Survey with Costings. A pre-purchase damp survey is what most buyers search for, and this is the survey that answers it. It is the same survey a homeowner or a seller books when they want to know what the work should cost, and the report says the same thing whoever books it.
No. 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. This report answers that recommendation. You need both.
Because it is the only one of our surveys that includes indicative costs. Our £350 Focused Survey and £450 Whole Property Survey find the cause and the extent of the damp. The Whole Property Survey with Costings does that for the whole property and, for each defect, gives the class of work that fixes it, the measurements taken on the day and an indicative cost range from a named, dated published source.
No. They are indicative ranges based on typical costs for that type of work at the date of the report. They show you the scale of the problem. The final cost depends on contractors' quotes and on what is found once work starts. We do not recommend contractors, and we take no commission or referral fee from anyone who carries out repairs.
No, and it is the same fixed fee. The wall that reads damp is the symptom. The cause is usually somewhere else, outside, above, below or on the other side of that wall, so we inspect every room we can get into and look hardest at every point your surveyor raised and everywhere that could be causing it.
Almost always. We arrange access through the agent, we inspect what the seller allows on the day, we do not open anything up, and we leave the house as we found it. Anything we could not get to is named in the report, with what that means for your decision.
We can usually attend within the week, and the written report is ready within 24 hours of the survey, released when payment clears. Rory then calls you to talk it through. We do not time anything to an exchange date, so the earlier you book once your survey is back, the better.
No. Where we see timber defects we record what we see and take readings, but this is a damp survey and not a specialist timber survey. If your surveyor has asked for a combined timber and damp survey, tell us when you call and Rory will say plainly what is and is not covered.
You, the person named on the booking. Share it with your solicitor or anyone else you like, but only you can rely on it. It is not prepared for a lender, a valuer or the seller.
No. We carry out no remedial work and we do not recommend contractors. The report tells you what class of work is needed and its indicative cost, and you or the seller get your own quotes for it.
£500, a fixed fee anywhere we cover, with nothing to pay to book. That includes the inspection, thermal imaging, moisture readings, the measured defects with indicative costs, the written report and a call with Rory afterwards.
Send us the damp paragraphs from your survey and the address, and we will come back to you the same day with a date.
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.