How the Building Safety Regime Is Changing Day‑to‑Day Work for Chartered Building Surveyors
The Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people on 14 June 2017 — and every chartered building surveyor working in the UK today is, in some way, still responding to that night. The Building Safety Act 2022 and its supporting secondary legislation represent the most significant overhaul of construction and property safety law in a generation. […]
Awaab’s Law, Damp and Mould: What UK Valuation Surveyors Now Need to Say About Habitability Risk
Nearly 2.5 million UK households live in damp or mouldy homes — yet until recently, the legal consequences for landlords who ignored the problem were largely theoretical. That changed on 27 October 2025, when Awaab's Law came into force for the social rented sector, and the ripple effects are now reshaping how valuation surveyors must […]
Party Wall Surveying for Garden Rooms, Outbuildings and Home Offices: When 2026 Homeowners Still Need to Serve Notice
Nearly one in three UK homeowners who built a garden room or home office in recent years did so without realising they may have been legally required to serve a Party Wall Notice first — a mistake that can trigger costly disputes, injunctions, and forced demolition orders. Party Wall Surveying for Garden Rooms, Outbuildings and […]
Building Surveys in a Flat or Falling Market: How Buyers Can Use Defects to Renegotiate Safely
Around 80% of buyers use a building survey as a negotiation tool, and in a subdued market, that figure carries real weight [2]. When house prices are flat or drifting lower, a detailed survey report stops being just a due-diligence document — it becomes one of the most powerful financial instruments a buyer holds. The […]
Chartered Surveyors in 2026 Chains: How Better Surveys Can Cut Delays and Fall‑Throughs in a Cautious Market
One in three property transactions in the UK collapses before completion — and a significant share of those failures trace back to survey findings that arrived too late, were poorly understood, or were never commissioned at all. In a 2026 market where buyer confidence remains fragile and lenders are scrutinising properties more closely than ever, […]
Responsible AI in Surveying: How UK Building and Valuation Surveyors Can Meet the New RICS Professional Standard Day‑to‑Day
By 9 March 2026, every RICS member and regulated firm worldwide — including sole-practitioner building surveyors and multi-office valuation practices across the UK — became legally obligated to comply with a brand-new mandatory professional standard. Yet a significant share of small and medium-sized practices had still not audited the AI tools already embedded in their […]
What the 2026 RICS Residential Market Turnaround Means for Valuation Surveyors: Risk Weighting, Commentary and Client Advice
The RICS UK Residential Market Survey for early 2026 carries a phrase that should be on every valuation surveyor's radar: "early signs of recovery." After more than two years of subdued transaction volumes, compressed buyer demand, and relentless downward pressure on agreed prices, the needle has shifted. New buyer enquiries are rising. Agreed sales are […]
Awaab’s Law in Practice: What Chartered Building Surveyors Must Now Report on Damp, Mould and Indoor Conditions in Social and PRS Stock
Over 3 million households in England live in homes with a serious damp problem — yet until the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) Regulations 2025 came into force, no single piece of legislation imposed strict, time-bound duties on landlords to act. That changed with Awaab's Law. For chartered building surveyors, the new framework is […]
How Chartered Surveyors Can Communicate Risk in a Cautious 2026 Housing Market: Turning Technical Findings into Negotiation Power
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Thermal Performance in 2026 Building Surveys: From EPC Bandings to Real-World Retrofit Costing
Nearly 60% of England's housing stock was built before 1960 — long before modern insulation standards existed — yet millions of buyers still rely on a single letter grade to judge a home's energy efficiency [8]. That single letter is about to become far less relevant. Thermal performance in 2026 building surveys: from EPC bandings […]