Sterlingworth provides property survey support for solicitors and conveyancers, including survey reports for solicitors known as Solicitor Summary Reports. A Solicitor Summary Report is a concise, structured extract from a full survey that draws out the findings with legal or transactional relevance, so they can be reviewed quickly alongside the full report.
Sterlingworth Surveyors is a RICS-regulated firm (Firm Registration Number 850747) based in Chessington. We are surveyors and valuers, not conveyancers: we report on the property and flag matters your firm may want to look into, and the legal advice stays with you.
Property surveys often contain information that matters to a transaction, but it can be spread across a long technical report. Our survey support for conveyancers presents the relevant findings in a clear, consistent format, and our surveyors can clarify what a finding means when a professional query comes up.
We work with:
Home surveys are carried out under the RICS Home Survey Standard. Valuation reports are prepared in line with RICS Valuation – Global Standards (the Red Book), and other advice follows current RICS professional standards and guidance.
A Solicitor Summary Report sets out, in a fixed order, the parts of the survey most useful for legal review and due diligence. It is prepared from the full survey of the same property.
The inspection date, the surveyor who carried it out, and any access limitations or restrictions met on the day, such as rooms, roof spaces or outbuildings that could not be inspected.
A high-level summary of serious defects, safety concerns and issues that may materially affect the transaction.
Concise details of the property, including its approximate age, size, layout, construction type and external areas.
Matters that may need further legal investigation, such as alterations where approvals should be checked, guarantees and warranties, and other compliance concerns noted during the inspection.
It does not replace the full survey, review legal documents or give legal advice. Where a point needs more technical detail, the full report remains the primary reference.
The survey findings most useful to a conveyancer are those that may lead to an enquiry of the seller, a check of the title or local authority records, or further investigation before exchange of contracts. Typical categories include:
for example, a removed wall, a loft conversion or replacement windows, where it may be worth checking whether planning permission or building regulations approval was needed and obtained.
work or products that may be covered by a guarantee, such as damp-proofing, timber treatment, replacement windows or a new-build warranty, where the paperwork should be requested.
boundary walls and fences, shared drives, paths or services, and areas in common use, where responsibility for maintenance may need clarifying.
signs of movement, cracking or damp where further investigation by a specialist is recommended, and any past repairs the seller may have records of.
Whether an enquiry is needed, and what it should say, is for the conveyancer to decide.
A Solicitor Summary Report is most useful where a survey has been carried out and its findings need to feed into the legal side of a transaction, particularly:
It also supports clearer communication between the surveyor, the solicitor and the client, because everyone is working from the same short list of points.
Many legal matters turn on the condition or value of a property. Alongside survey reports for solicitors, we provide the following services:
Many legal matters turn on the condition or value of a property. Alongside survey reports for solicitors, we provide the following services:
| Matter | Service |
|---|---|
| Residential purchases | RICS Level 2 survey or RICS Level 3 survey for the buyer; snagging list survey for new-build homes |
| Divorce and separation | Matrimonial and divorce valuations, including jointly instructed valuations and single joint expert work |
| Estates | Probate and inheritance tax valuations |
| Disputes and proceedings | Expert witness work, arbitration and independent expert determination on property matters |
| Leasehold | Lease extension valuations for leaseholders and freeholders |
| Commercial leases | Dilapidations advice, rent review advice and commercial property valuations |
| Building works next door | Party wall surveyors for building owners and adjoining owners |
| Shared ownership and equity loans | Shared ownership staircasing valuations and Help to Buy valuations |
| Tax | Capital gains tax and Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) valuations |
| Insurance | Reinstatement cost assessments for buildings insurance |
When we act as an expert in court proceedings, our duty is to help the court on matters within our expertise, and that duty overrides any obligation to the person who instructed or pays us. Expert evidence in proceedings needs the court’s permission, and the court may direct that a single joint expert gives it.
You can see all our valuation services on our residential valuations page.
A solicitor or conveyancer can contact us to discuss an instruction on behalf of a client. In outline:
Reports are prepared for the client named in the instruction. Tell us at the outset who the report and any summary will be shared with, so the instruction can reflect that. We handle personal information about your client and the property in line with data protection law.
If your firm regularly needs surveys or valuations for clients, get in touch to discuss how we can support your team. Tell us the types of matter you handle and the services you are likely to need.
No. The summary is designed to be read alongside the full survey report, not instead of it. It helps a solicitor or conveyancer find the points that matter to the transaction quickly, while the full report holds the detail, the condition ratings and the surveyor’s reasoning.
RICS Level 2 and Level 3 survey reports already include a section headed “Issues for your legal advisers”, covering regulation, guarantees and other matters. The surveyor does not act as a legal adviser or comment on legal documents, but may refer in the report to issues the buyer’s legal advisers may need to investigate further. The Solicitor Summary Report brings those points together with the condition findings most relevant to your review.
If a finding needs explaining, our surveyors can clarify it or respond to a professional query where appropriate.
The fee depends on the property and the service needed. We confirm a fixed fee before you or your client instruct us.
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Mainly anything that may need an enquiry or further checks before exchange: alterations that may have needed approval, guarantees and warranties, boundary and shared-area points, significant damp or structural findings, and parts of the property the surveyor could not inspect. A Solicitor Summary Report brings these together in one short document.
No. It is a supplementary document that highlights key findings for legal review. The full survey remains the primary reference, with the detail, condition ratings and reasoning behind each finding. The summary and the full report should be read together.
Yes, on the survey findings. Our surveyors can clarify what a finding means or respond to a professional query where appropriate. We do not comment on legal documents or give legal advice; questions about title, contracts or what enquiries to raise remain with the solicitor or conveyancer.
Defects or findings with a legal or transactional angle, rather than routine maintenance: for example, work that may have needed planning permission or building regulations approval, missing guarantees, shared or boundary structures, and serious defects that could affect the price or the decision to proceed. The surveyor flags them; the solicitor decides what to do.
It is typically requested by a solicitor or conveyancer acting for a client who has instructed, or is instructing, a survey. The client can also ask for one to pass to their solicitor. Contact us to discuss the instruction.
A Solicitor Summary Report can be prepared alongside our RICS Level 2 and Level 3 surveys and other residential surveys. Tell us which survey has been or will be carried out, and we will confirm what the summary can cover.
It highlights matters noted during the inspection that may need further legal investigation, such as alterations where approvals should be checked. It does not review legal documents, confirm compliance or give legal advice.
Yes. We provide expert witness work on property matters, and can also act in arbitration or as an independent expert. As an expert in court proceedings, our overriding duty is to the court, not to the party instructing or paying us.
Whether you need a summary for a purchase, a valuation for a family or probate matter, or an expert on a property dispute, tell us about the property and the instruction. We will confirm the scope and fixed fee before work begins.
For an overview of the surveys buyers can choose from, see our residential property surveys.
