ABSTRACT
The residential agent or valuer, even if professionally qualified, will not necessarily have sufficient knowledge and experience of building pathology to undertake the more comprehensive survey work necessary for a home buyer's survey and valuation (HBSV) or pre-purchase inspection report (building survey) — sometimes called a full or structural survey. There are certainly some residential valuers who have the right training and experience to undertake this work, but there are those who believe that this work should only be carried out by building surveyors. Recent additions to the range of other surveys include both home condition reports (HCRs) and energy performance certificate (EPC) surveys. The former is a level 2 inspection and is therefore comparable to the HBSV, although there are key differences which will be discussed later. These two surveys can only be undertaken by suitably qualified and accredited individuals: the EPC can be produced by either a domestic energy assessor (DEA) or a home inspector (HI), whereas the HCR can only be produced by a home inspector.
