RICS Level 3 Building Survey in Lichfield

A RICS Level 3 Building Survey is the deepest visual inspection we offer for a home in Lichfield. It is written for buyers who need more than a brief condition summary, especially where the property is older, listed, heavily altered or built in an unusual way. Our surveyors follow the RICS Home Survey Standard and report on the construction, materials, visible defects and the likely consequences of leaving those defects alone. That is the point of paying for a Level 3 rather than accepting a lighter review.

The inspection covers all accessible parts of the building, which usually means the main rooms, roof space where it is safe to enter, sub-floor areas where access is possible, external walls, chimneys, rainwater goods and the obvious visible parts of the services. We do not open up fabric, lift carpets, drill holes, carry out CCTV drainage surveys or test the electrics and gas systems. If there is evidence of movement, damp, failing roof coverings or a service that looks unsafe, our report explains why it matters and what a specialist should look at next. On a house in WS13, that detail can change the whole purchase conversation.

The value of the report is not just in spotting faults. It is in ranking them. You will see which issues need urgent action, which can wait, and which are maintenance tasks that a sensible buyer should factor in from day one. A cracked tile, failed pointing or decayed roof timber is not written up as a vague note, it is linked to likely repair work and to the risk of doing nothing. That is especially useful where the home has already been extended, remodelled or patched over several decades, because hidden repair history can sit behind a neat finish.

• Detailed visual inspection of accessible areas
• Construction and material commentary
• Defect analysis with repair priorities
• Advice on consequences of delay

Rather than rely on a town-wide figure, we check the specifics for your exact address. It also does not give us a confirmed local geology risk, a named mining belt or a fixed floodplain issue for the whole area. That means our approach is property-led, not assumption-led. A detached house in the 50% stock slice can have a very different risk profile from a terraced home in the 10% slice, even when both sit within the same city and the same transaction market.

In practical terms, the surveyor is still watching for the same faults that affect older homes across the West Midlands, because those are the problems that show up in the fabric. Damp can sit behind solid walls or old pointing. Roof coverings can fail at ridges, valleys and around chimneys. Timber decay can develop where ventilation is poor, and lath-and-plaster can crack where extensions meet the original structure. If a house in Lichfield has had a loft conversion, a rear extension or a knocked-through ground floor, the junctions need careful reading rather than a quick glance.

Local context still matters. Lichfield City station, Boley Park and the rest of the city are part of a market with 1,624 transactions in the 12 months to December 2025, so properties move through sale and resale with a fair amount of change over time. That is exactly where a Level 3 helps. It can tell you whether the issue is cosmetic, whether it needs a specialist, or whether it is a repair that should be priced in before you commit. You do not need invented local scare stories for that. You need a surveyor who knows how to read the building in front of them.

• Movement around openings
• Damp and failed mortar joints
• Roof wear at chimneys and valleys
• Older finishes hiding past alterations