02 May, 2025/ by Surveyor Local /Tips
When purchasing a home, whether with a mortgage or buying outright, many people look to control costs by cutting what might seem like unnecessary expenses. But a conveyancer and a chartered surveyor are not interchangeable: each protects a different aspect of your purchase. This guide explains what each professional does and why both services are worth having.
What does a conveyancer do?
A conveyancing solicitor handles the legal side of a property transaction. Their focus is on public records and legal protections rather than the physical condition of the building.
Your solicitor will contact local authorities for information about planning permissions, investigate restrictions such as tree preservation orders and restrictive covenants, research drainage and water arrangements, examine environmental factors including flood history and industrial activity, and order specialist reports for specific concerns such as coal mining risk.
It is common to confuse the searches a conveyancer carries out with a property survey. They are not the same. Conveyancing searches look at legal and environmental records. They do not involve physically inspecting the property.
What does a chartered surveyor do?
A building inspection is not a legal requirement when buying a home, but it gives you an accurate picture of the physical condition of what you are purchasing.
When you commission a Level 2 HomeBuyer Report or a Level 3 building survey, your appointed professional will physically inspect the property, identify defects and maintenance issues, assess the structural condition, evaluate specific concerns such as damp, asbestos or subsidence, and provide a written report with findings and recommendations.
Their role is to tell you what condition the property is actually in and that's something no amount of legal searches can do.
Do conveyancers do surveys?
No. Conveyancers are legal professionals. They do not carry out physical inspections of properties and are not qualified to assess structural condition or defects. If you want to know the condition of the home you are buying, you need a chartered surveyor.
Some people assume the mortgage lender's valuation serves this purpose. It does not. A mortgage valuation is carried out for the lender's benefit, to confirm the home is worth the mortgage amount. It will not identify structural problems or maintenance issues and is not a substitute for a full building assessment.
Why you need both
Your conveyancer looks after your legal interests. A chartered surveyor protects your financial investment in the physical asset. The two roles complement each other: one cannot replace the other.
Conveyancing solicitor | Chartered surveyor |
Searches public records | Physically inspects the property |
Identifies legal restrictions | Identifies structural problems |
Ensures clear property title | Assesses property condition |
Handles legal paperwork | Provides maintenance advice |
Protects your legal interests | Protects your financial investment |
A survey report also gives you practical leverage in the buying process. If significant defects are found, you can use the findings to renegotiate the agreed price, ask the seller to carry out repairs before exchange, or in cases of serious problems, decide to walk away before committing further money. Our guide on what to do when your house survey reveals problems sets out how to handle each scenario.
You can find out more about what each survey level costs and what is covered on our survey cost page.
Arrange a survey with Surveyor Local
At Surveyor Local, we work exclusively with RICS-accredited chartered surveyors across England and Wales. Our team can arrange the right survey for your home quickly and at a competitive price.
Call our friendly team on or get a survey quote online.