I have often received calls from surveyors who are setting up on their own and need advice on which is the best way to produce the RICS Homebuyer, Condition Report or Building Surveys.
You do need a licence to produce an RICS Homebuyer, Condition Report or Building Survey and now that ISURV Worksmart is being taken down, it will lead to a lot of surveyors considering which is the best value and most efficient way to produce these reports ongoing.
There are various systems out there but these are the ones we have come across regularly:
ISURV’s New and Updated Proforms
This is to be released in 2021 and we are unsure what the updates will be. It looks like it will be free which will be an improvement on the current Worksmart platform.
This is usually used where surveyors receive instructions directly from lenders. It has not been updated for a while and is not user friendly. They did produce a digital way to produce the Homeybuyer report on a tablet, but I have not tried this: https://www.landmark.co.uk/lvs/q-mobile
This is my favourite at the moment, as it seems the most comprehensive solution for surveyors allowing the app to update photos and site notes etc. It does have a dictation function within the online forms but most people just use straight dictation.
Andrew Dyke and Associates – Surveywriter Software
Andrew Dyke’s Word templates include Macro functionality which allows you to update the Condition Rating symbols and the Summary C Section automatically.
The ISVA offer an alternative to the RICS reports with three levels of service:
Level 2 Report – The Intermediate Survey
