TECHNICAL BULLETIN
ISSUE 30
NOVEMBER 2018
VERBAL REPORTING
A KEY SKILL FOR SURVEYORS JOHN WHEATLEY BSC MRICS CHARTERED BUILDING SURVEYOR, BLUEBOX PARTNERS
Experienced Chartered Building Surveyor and technical trainer, John Wheatley, explains why verbal reporting is so important for clients and our reputation as surveyors. Discussions between surveyors and their clients are invaluable. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate how seriously you take the client’s interests, and how thoroughly you’ve undertaken the inspection. These interactions can be the most direct form of marketing you can get, as well as the best protection against future misunderstandings and complaints.
verbalise the range of issues that typically concern clients and to respond appropriately to commonly asked questions.
What’s required of surveyors? While the agreed terms and conditions should outline the requirements for the level of service and report being undertaken, this is often vague when it comes to verbal reporting.
A sympathetic and professional practitioner will almost certainly be recommended to friends, family, and colleagues, while the distant, aloof, and incomprehensible may well be in the firing line if problems arise.
A good starting point is the RICS guidance note “Surveys of residential property” 3rd edition May 2016 reissue. This offers guidance on the benchmarking standards for survey products and references level one, two and three surveys.
Key skill for surveyors
Most practitioners are familiar with the RICS level one survey, “RICS Condition Report”, level two survey “RICS HomeBuyer Report” and level three survey “RICS Building Survey”. The practice notes and professional statements set the required standards, but those covering the Condition Report and the HomeBuyer Report don’t specify requirements for post inspection verbal reports.
Verbal reporting is therefore a key skill for surveyors. Despite this, there is little available guidance on the subject. While experienced practitioners will have developed their own styles and approaches over the years, training exercises with newer entrants to the profession, suggest that it’s one of the trickier skills for people to master. Many trainees struggle to
11
