Pre-purchase, insurance and tonnage surveys for sailing yachts, motorboats and commercial craft.
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A marine surveyor is the only person in a boat purchase with no interest in the sale going through. Their job is to examine the hull, structure, systems and equipment and report what they find: osmosis blistering and moisture readings on a GRP hull, plate thickness on steel, fastenings and frames on timber, keel bolts, rudder bearings, chainplates, gas and electrical installations, and the age of anything safety-critical.
There are three surveys owners commonly buy. A pre-purchase survey is the full examination, done out of the water, and is the one that saves or costs you real money. It is normal for the report to shift several thousand pounds of negotiation. An insurance survey is narrower: insurers typically want one on boats over roughly 25 to 30 years old, repeated every five years, and they are looking for seaworthiness rather than cosmetic condition. A valuation survey supports finance or a claim settlement.
A survey is not a guarantee. It is a professional opinion on what could be seen on the day, with the boat ashore and the surveyor's caveats attached. Read the limitations section as carefully as the defect list, and understand that anything the surveyor could not access (behind linings, under tanks, inside a keel stub) is excluded rather than approved.
Never use a surveyor recommended by the seller or the selling broker. Instruct your own, pay them yourself, and make sure the report is addressed to you. Otherwise you may have no recourse if something material is missed.
Look for full membership of the YDSA or IIMS, and ask for the value of their professional indemnity cover. If a surveyor has no PI insurance, a negligent survey leaves you with nothing to claim against.
Steel, timber, ferro-cement, cold-moulded and modern composite hulls all fail in different ways. A surveyor who spends their week on GRP production cruisers is the wrong person for a 1930s carvel yacht or a commercial aluminium workboat.
Confirm in writing whether the fee includes engine and drive inspection, rig inspection aloft, sea trial attendance, tank soundings and moisture mapping. Engines are frequently excluded and need a separate engineer's report.
Ask to see a redacted sample. A good report separates urgent defects, work needed before next season and advisory items, with photographs and an estimated cost band. Confirm how many days you will wait, because purchase deadlines do not move.
The phone call after the report is where the value sits. A surveyor who will spend twenty minutes telling you which items are negotiating points and which are deal-breakers is worth more than one who emails a PDF and disappears.
Surveys have to be booked around lift-out slots, and that is a regional problem. On the South Coast and the Solent you can usually find a yard crane within a fortnight even in season; on the East Coast and in parts of Wales and Scotland, tides, drying berths and limited hoist capacity mean the survey date is set by the yard's diary rather than yours.
Local conditions also change what a surveyor looks hardest at. Boats kept on drying moorings get scrutiny on keel and skeg loading; those in high-salinity Solent and Channel berths on stainless fittings and electrolysis; Scottish and Irish Sea craft on rig and storm damage, given the fetch and the weather they sit out. Expect a surveyor who works your coast to know exactly which of these applies.
Published 2026 fees from UK surveyors mostly sit around £15 to £19 per foot for a pre-purchase survey, though some charge more (around £25 per foot), and most set a minimum fee, typically £400 to £700. Many independent surveyors are not VAT-registered, so check whether VAT applies, and always confirm the fee with the surveyor before booking. See our guide to boat survey costs in the UK.
Many UK insurers ask for a satisfactory out-of-water survey once a boat passes about 25 to 30 years old, and then every five years. Requirements vary by underwriter and by hull material, so check the wording before you buy an older boat.
Yes, and you should if the surveyor allows it. You will learn more in two hours of following them round the boat than from the report, and you can ask directly how serious each finding is.
Usually only visually. A proper engine assessment (oil analysis, compression, gearbox, hours under load on a sea trial) is a marine engineer's job and is quoted separately. On a high-value motorboat it is money well spent.
You can withdraw, renegotiate on the cost of the work, or ask the seller to complete specified repairs before completion. Most brokered sales are made subject to survey and sea trial precisely so that this conversation can happen.
South East
Independent boat and yacht surveyor providing pre-purchase, insurance and valuation surveys for sailing and motor vessels.
Covers South Coast, United Kingdom and overseas by arrangement
South West
Marine surveying service helping buyers, owners and insurers assess vessel condition, value and maintenance requirements.
Covers South West, South Coast and wider UK by arrangement
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Marine survey company providing condition, insurance and purchase inspections for sailing yachts, motorboats and inland craft.
Covers United Kingdom by arrangement
Gravesend, Kent
Independent marine survey practice specialising in pre-purchase, insurance and condition surveys for private leisure vessels.
Covers Kent, Thames Estuary, South East England and wider UK by arrangement
United Kingdom
Independent boat survey practice offering vessel inspections, valuations and technical reporting in the UK and overseas.
Covers United Kingdom, Europe and international by arrangement
United Kingdom
Marine surveying and reporting consultancy serving insurers, carriers, logistics providers and the international insurance market.
Covers United Kingdom and international assignments
South East
Marine consultancy providing yacht surveys, vessel management, delivery, training and preparation for offshore and adventure cruising.
Covers United Kingdom and overseas
Hampshire
Independent marine surveyor focused on sailing yachts and motorboats across the Solent and South Coast cruising area.
Covers Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Sussex and South Coast
South East
Independent marine survey service offering detailed surveys and reports for yacht, motorboat and leisure craft buyers and owners.
Covers South Coast and wider United Kingdom by arrangement
South East
Marine surveyor serving inland and coastal boat owners with purchase surveys, insurance reports and Boat Safety Scheme services.
Covers River Thames, South East England and surrounding regions
Southampton, Hampshire
Independent marine surveying and yacht consultancy company supporting private owners, insurers, lawyers and marine businesses.
Covers United Kingdom and international assignments
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