RICS Level 3 Building Survey in Worthing

A Level 3 survey is the most detailed visual inspection we offer. In Worthing, that means a surveyor who is used to looking at the original fabric of a yellow-brick house in Broadwater, a stucco front on Steyne Gardens, or a flat-roofed block along Marine Parade. They examine all accessible parts, including the roof space, visible timbers, walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows and the sub-floor where access allows. The report then explains how the building is constructed, what materials are in play, and where those materials are already showing age or distress.

Our reports go beyond condition ratings. They explain defects, set out likely repair work, and show what happens if repairs are left too long, which is useful in Worthing where old rainwater goods, patched roofs and tired joinery can hide a slow problem. A missing slate on a terrace in BN14 may look minor from the pavement, but if water has already reached the timbers or the ceiling below, the cost profile changes fast. That is the kind of judgement a Level 3 survey is built to provide.

What it does not do is just as important. We do not carry out destructive opening up, lift carpets, run drainage CCTV, or test electrical, gas, plumbing or heating systems. If the surveyor sees movement, active damp, unsafe wiring or a roof that is beyond simple maintenance, the report will point you towards the right specialist, such as a structural engineer, damp specialist, electrician or gas engineer. In a town with 26 conservation areas and a large stock of older houses, that follow-up pathway often matters more than a short checklist.

• Detailed visual inspection of accessible parts
• Notes on construction and materials
• Defects and repair priorities
• Consequences of not repairing
• Specialist follow-up where needed

Worthing's building stock tells a clear story. Early 19th-century domestic work often used plain facades, yellow brick and stucco, while later 19th-century homes brought canted bays, gables and barge boards into streets around Broadwater and Heene. Along the seafront, Art Deco buildings from the 1920s and 1930s add curved walls, reinforced concrete, smooth surfaces and large panes of glass, so a surveyor has to judge each part of the town on its own terms rather than apply a generic checklist.

The ground beneath the town matters too. Worthing sits on chalk bedrock to the north, with most of the town on sand and gravel, but parts are underlain by London Clay Formation, which is prone to shrink-swell. In severe cases that movement can reach 40 to 80mm, enough to crack foundations, distort openings and leave a bay window in a Broadwater terrace looking a little out of line. Add flood risk from the sea, rivers, surface water and groundwater, and the picture becomes one of a coastal town where the structure needs proper scrutiny.

Common defects in this stock are familiar to any good surveyor. Victorian homes can suffer shallow foundations, rising damp, penetrating damp, roof spread and timber decay where air bricks have been blocked; Art Deco buildings often need careful checks of flat roofs, internal gutters, stucco cracks and sealant failure around windows. Sample house condition surveys in the 1990s found 5.1% of pre-1983 dwellings unfit and 9.4% in substantial disrepair, which sits uneasily beside the 2,030 homes and numerous businesses under threat from rising sea levels and coastal erosion.

• Victorian terraces in Broadwater and Tarring
• rising damp, shallow foundations and bay-window movement
• Art Deco flats near the seafront
• flat roof leaks, cracked render and internal gutter issues
• Post-war homes in Goring and Durrington
• insulation gaps, tired wiring and low-pitch roof defects
• Seafront and low-lying streets
• flood exposure, salt air and weathering of exposed materials