Boat survey questions, answered plainly.

Guide pricing for a pre-purchase survey with Infinity Marine starts at £15 per foot of length overall, with a minimum charge of £300. A 32 ft motor cruiser therefore works out at roughly £480 as a starting point.

Across the UK market you should expect somewhere between £12 and £25 per foot depending on the surveyor, the vessel and the depth of the report. Beware quotes that look unusually cheap — they often exclude the written report, or cover only a walk-round rather than a proper inspection.

The final figure depends on size, age, construction, where the boat is lying, how good the access is and the scope you actually need. Travel, accommodation where an overnight stay is unavoidable, and yard charges for lifting or pressure-washing are additional.

Because two 40 ft boats can be entirely different jobs. A well-presented GRP cruiser ashore on a hardstanding with the engine bay clear is a straightforward day. A 40 ft wooden ketch afloat on a swinging mooring, with lockers full of gear and a bilge that needs emptying before anything can be seen, is not.

All prices on this site are guide prices, subject to an informal chat first. That conversation takes five minutes and means the figure you are given is the figure you pay.

One to two weeks is typical, but it is worth calling as soon as you have an offer accepted. The constraint is usually not the surveyor's diary — it is the boatyard's. If the vessel needs lifting, the yard's crane slots are frequently booked further ahead than the survey itself, and in spring that can stretch to several weeks.

If you are working to a deadline on a purchase, say so in your enquiry and it will be prioritised.

The buyer, in almost all cases, and it is paid directly to the yard rather than through the surveyor. Expect somewhere in the region of £150 to £500 for a lift, hold and relaunch depending on the yard and the vessel's tonnage, plus pressure-washing if the hull is fouled.

Some vendors will contribute or arrange it as part of the sale. It is always worth asking the broker before you book anything.

A pre-purchase survey is a visual inspection of everything that can reasonably be reached without dismantling the vessel or causing damage. In practice that means:

• Hull, keel, rudder, skeg, stem and transom, inspected out of the water
• Moisture readings on GRP hulls, with attention to areas of raised reading and any blistering
• Deck, superstructure, coachroof and visible signs of water ingress or core softening
• Structural members — bulkheads, stringers, frames, floors — where accessible
• Skin fittings, seacocks, hoses and clips
• Steering, stern gear, shaft, coupling, cutless bearing and propeller
• Engine bay condition and mountings — visual only, unless a separate engine survey is arranged
• Electrical installation condition, gas installation condition, and bilge pumping arrangements
• Rig and spars from deck level, where a sailing vessel is involved
• Safety equipment present, and its condition and expiry dates

Every finding is set out in a written report, categorised by urgency, with photographs of anything significant.

This matters as much as what is. A standard survey does not include:

• Dismantling. Panels, linings and headlinings are not removed. Anything hidden behind them stays hidden.
• A full engine strip or oil analysis. Engine internals need a marine engineer with the right diagnostic kit. This can be arranged alongside.
• A sea trial, unless specifically agreed and arranged as an extra.
• Rig climbing. Masthead and upper rigging inspection needs the rig out or a climb, arranged separately.
• Tank internals, or anything under a sealed sole that cannot be lifted.
• Valuation. A survey reports condition. It is not a market appraisal, though the findings will usually tell you plenty about what the boat is worth.

Where something significant cannot be reached, the report says so explicitly rather than quietly omitting it. An honest "not inspected, access denied by fixed joinery" is worth far more to you than silence.

On site, expect three to six hours for a vessel between 25 and 45 ft. Larger or more complex boats, and wooden craft in particular, take longer. The written report normally follows within two to five working days.

If the timescale is tight because of a purchase deadline, that can usually be accommodated — mention it when you enquire.

You are very welcome, and most buyers find it the single most useful few hours of the whole purchase. Seeing a surveyor point at a soft patch of deck and explain what it means teaches you more than any report can.

That said, it is not required, and there are stretches — moisture-metering a whole hull, for instance — that are frankly dull to watch. If you can only spare part of the day, come for the last hour and get a verbal summary on the spot.

For a pre-purchase or insurance survey, yes. Roughly half of what matters structurally is below the waterline, and no meaningful hull assessment, moisture reading or antifoul condition check is possible afloat.

A vessel can be looked at afloat for a limited condition check or a specific defect inspection, but the report will state clearly that the underwater body was not inspected — and most insurers will not accept that.

Often, yes. Most UK marine insurers require a survey once a vessel passes a certain age — commonly 20 to 30 years for GRP, and frequently sooner for wooden and steel craft. Many also require a fresh survey every five to ten years thereafter, and some ask for one on any change of ownership regardless of age.

Requirements vary between insurers and change over time, so always confirm the exact specification with your insurer or broker before booking. Ask specifically whether they need the vessel out of the water, whether they require a named scheme membership, and what date range they will accept.

Usually, but confirm it first. Marine finance providers sometimes maintain a list of accepted surveyors or require particular scheme membership. Check with them before you book so you are not paying twice.

It is worth pressing them on the wording, because "qualified" is used loosely. Some insurers mean membership of a specific body such as the YDSA, IIMS or RINA. Others simply mean an independent professional surveyor with relevant experience and appropriate insurance.

Get their requirement in writing before booking any surveyor, including this one. If they require a membership that is not held, you will be told plainly rather than sold a report you cannot use.

Almost certainly not. Every used boat generates a list — a clean report on a thirty-year-old vessel would be more suspicious than a long one. What matters is the category of the findings, not the count.

Structural problems, significant osmosis, wet deck core, serious corrosion and tired standing rigging are expensive and should influence price or your decision. Perished hoses, corroded clips, out-of-date flares and a dozen small maintenance items are normal ownership, and cheap to put right.

The report separates the two so you can see at a glance which is which. If it is still not clear, ring and talk it through — that conversation is included.

Buyers do this routinely and it is entirely reasonable. A survey identifying £6,000 of necessary work is a legitimate basis for revisiting an agreed figure, or for asking the vendor to complete specific items before completion.

The report itself stays neutral — it records condition, not negotiating positions. That neutrality is precisely what makes it useful to you: a vendor cannot dismiss it as a buyer's wish list.

No, and that is deliberate. A surveyor who quotes for repairs on their own findings has an obvious conflict of interest, and it undermines the independence you are paying for.

What can be done is help you understand the findings, scope the work properly, and where useful assist in arranging estimates from yards and trades so you can compare like with like. Thirty years in boat building and repair is genuinely useful at that stage.

Get in touch. A survey is a snapshot of visible condition on one day, not a warranty, and components do fail — but if something was accessible and should have been picked up, that will be looked at honestly.

If the item was genuinely concealed, or was flagged in the report as requiring further investigation, the report will show that. This is one good reason to read the recommendations section carefully rather than skipping to the summary.

Motor boats, yachts and small craft up to 60 ft, in GRP, wood, steel and aluminium. That includes motor cruisers, sports boats, sailing yachts, motor sailers, narrowboats and small commercial craft.

Above 60 ft, or for specialist vessels such as multi-engine high-performance craft or historic classics needing a specialist, you will be told straight away and pointed towards someone appropriate.

All four materials, and the experience behind it is hands-on rather than theoretical — thirty years of building, repairing and engineering these hulls.

They fail in completely different ways. GRP hides osmosis and wet core. Wood hides rot at fastenings, in stopwaters and behind sheathing. Steel corrodes from the inside out under the bilge paint. Aluminium suffers galvanic and crevice corrosion around dissimilar metals. Each needs a different set of habits, and a surveyor who only really knows GRP will miss things on the other three.

The practice works from two bases, Bristol and Minehead, so the South West is home ground: the Bristol Channel from Gloucester and Sharpness down through Portishead, Clevedon and Weston, across to Cardiff, Penarth and Swansea, and West Somerset — Watchet, Minehead, Bridgwater and Burnham-on-Sea.

Devon, Cornwall and Dorset are covered regularly — Exmouth, Torquay, Brixham, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Padstow and Poole. Surveys elsewhere in the UK and in Europe are arranged as required.

Travel is quoted honestly by distance rather than buried in the rate, and where two or more vessels can be seen on one trip that saving is passed on. If travel makes the total uneconomic for a small vessel, you will be told so and pointed towards someone local. See all areas covered.

Access is everything, and an hour of preparation can meaningfully improve what the report is able to tell you. If it is your own vessel:

• Empty lockers, particularly those giving access to the hull, bilges and skin fittings
• Pump and wipe the bilges so the structure beneath is actually visible
• Lift sole boards and any removable panels, and leave them off
• Clear the engine bay of stowed gear
• Have the hull pressure-washed at lift out, before it dries and sets hard
• Leave keys, and paperwork — registration, previous surveys, service records, VAT documents
• Make sure batteries are charged and the shore supply is connected if there is one

If you are buying, ask the broker or vendor to do the above. Where access is refused or impossible, the report will record it as not inspected.