A pre-purchase survey on a typical 30 to 40 ft UK leisure boat lands somewhere between £400 and £900 for the surveyor's fee. The number that surprises people is not the survey itself — it is the lift out, the pressure wash and the yard's day rate sitting underneath it.
The short answer
Most UK marine surveyors price pre-purchase work per foot of length overall, in the range of £12 to £25 per foot, subject to a minimum charge. Infinity Marine's guide price is £15 per foot with a £300 minimum, which sits deliberately in the middle of that band.
On top of the survey fee, budget for:
| Item | Typical UK range | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Survey fee (pre-purchase) | £12–£25 per ft, min. £300–£450 | Surveyor |
| Lift, hold and relaunch | £150–£500 | Boatyard |
| Pressure wash | £40–£120 | Boatyard |
| Surveyor travel | Nil to £200+ by distance | Surveyor |
| Engine survey (separate specialist) | £250–£600 | Marine engineer |
| Sea trial attendance | £150–£350 | Surveyor |
A realistic all-in figure for a 34 ft GRP motor cruiser, surveyed ashore with a lift and wash, is therefore around £700 to £1,100 rather than the £510 the per-foot rate alone suggests.
Why surveyors charge per foot
Because length is the single best predictor of how long the job takes. A 45 ft boat does not have a hull 50% larger than a 30 ft boat — it has roughly twice the wetted surface to moisture-meter, twice the deck to sound, more skin fittings, more systems, a bigger engine bay and a longer report to write. Per-foot pricing tracks that fairly well without needing to inspect the boat before quoting it.
It is a starting point rather than a formula. Two 40-footers can be a day apart in effort, which is why any honest quote comes after a short conversation about the specific vessel.
Worked examples by size
Using £15 per foot with a £300 minimum, and ignoring travel and yard charges:
| Vessel | LOA | Guide survey fee |
|---|---|---|
| Small sports boat or day boat | 18 ft | £300 (minimum applies) |
| Small cruising yacht | 26 ft | £390 |
| Mid-size motor cruiser | 32 ft | £480 |
| Family cruising yacht | 38 ft | £570 |
| Larger motor yacht | 46 ft | £690 |
| At the upper limit | 60 ft | £900 |
Note how the minimum charge bites at the small end. A 16 ft dayboat still needs travel, inspection time, photographs and a written report, and that floor is what makes small jobs viable at all.
The costs on top of the survey fee
Lifting out
This is the big one, and it is almost always the buyer's cost, paid directly to the yard. A crane or hoist lift with a few hours ashore and a relaunch commonly runs £150 to £500 depending on the yard, the tonnage and whether you need cradling overnight. In peak season some yards charge a premium, and slots book out weeks ahead.
Have the hull pressure-washed immediately after lifting, while the growth is still soft. If it dries on, the yard will charge more to shift it and the surveyor cannot properly assess the gelcoat underneath either way.
Travel
Some surveyors quote inclusive of travel within a home patch and charge beyond it. Infinity Marine covers the whole UK and quotes travel honestly by distance — and where two vessels can be seen on one trip, that saving is passed on. It is always worth asking whether anyone else nearby is being surveyed the same week.
Engines
A general survey covers the engine bay visually — mountings, obvious leaks, corrosion, hoses, belts, the state of the installation. It does not diagnose the engine's internal health. That needs a marine engineer with compression testing and oil analysis, typically £250 to £600. On a boat where the engine represents a third of the asking price, that is money well spent.
Sea trials
Not part of a standard survey. Where a vendor will allow one, attendance is usually an extra few hundred pounds, and it is genuinely useful on planing craft — you learn things about gearboxes, steering and vibration under load that no static inspection reveals.
What pushes a quote up or down
- Construction material. Wooden hulls take substantially longer than GRP. Every fastening line, stopwater and sheathed area needs individual attention.
- Age. A 1978 boat has had four decades of modifications, repairs and previous owners' ideas to unpick. A 2018 boat has not.
- Access. Full lockers, bolted-down sole boards and fitted joinery over the hull all cost time — or worse, cost coverage, because what cannot be reached gets recorded as not inspected.
- Location. A boat in a tidal yard with restricted working hours is a different job from one on open hardstanding.
- Scope. A limited hull inspection costs less than a full pre-purchase survey. Be clear which you are buying.
- Twin engines, complex systems, generators, bow thrusters, hydraulics. More installed kit means more to inspect and more to report on.
When a cheap quote is a false economy
There are legitimately cheaper surveyors, and there are quotes that are cheap because something has been left out. Before you compare two figures, establish for each:
- Is a full written report included, or is it verbal with notes?
- How many photographs, and are defects individually illustrated?
- Is the vessel inspected out of the water?
- Are moisture readings taken across the hull, or spot-checked?
- Is the surveyor independent, or connected to the broker selling you the boat?
- Do they carry professional indemnity insurance?
- Will they talk you through the findings afterwards at no extra charge?
- What is the turnaround on the report?
A £350 report that misses £11,000 of wet deck core is not a saving. Equally, the most expensive surveyor in the region is not automatically the most thorough — ask to see a redacted sample report from anyone you are considering. A good surveyor will be glad to send one.
One question worth asking every surveyor
"What did you find on the last boat of this type you surveyed?" Someone who genuinely knows your hull material will answer immediately and in detail. It is a more revealing question than any list of qualifications.
Is it worth the money?
On a used boat, almost always. The arithmetic is unkind: a survey on a 35 ft cruiser costs perhaps £525 plus £300 of yard charges. A wet deck core on the same boat is £6,000 to £15,000 to put right properly. Significant osmosis needing a peel, dry and re-laminate is £8,000 upward. Replacement standing rigging on a 38 ft yacht is £3,000 to £5,000. Any single one of those findings pays for the survey twenty times over, either as a price reduction or as a decision not to buy.
The cases where a survey is arguably optional are new boats under builder's warranty, very low-value craft where the survey approaches a meaningful share of the price, and vessels you are buying explicitly as a project with your eyes open. Even then, a limited hull inspection is often worth having.
The most valuable surveys are frequently the ones that find nothing dramatic. Knowing that a boat is fundamentally sound, and holding a prioritised list of the next five years' maintenance, is exactly what you want before you hand over the money.
Get a guide price for your vessel
Send the make, model, year, length, hull material and where she is lying, and you will get a realistic figure back — including an honest view of the yard charges you should expect on top. No obligation.
Related reading
- Pre-purchase survey: what to expect on the day
- How to prepare your boat for a survey
- Boat insurance survey requirements explained
- Frequently asked questions
All figures are indicative UK market ranges as at August 2026 and are not quotations. Yard, lifting and haul-out charges are set by the boatyard and payable directly to them. Insurance requirements vary between insurers and should always be confirmed with your own insurer or broker.