The week after instruction is when a surveyor's inbox fills. When will you inspect. Has the agent given you access. How long until the report. Can you send it to my solicitor. Is there anything I should be worried about.
Almost all of it is caused by three pieces of information that were never published.
What clients ask after instructing
Clients usually ask how soon the inspection can happen, who arranges access, whether they can attend, how long the inspection takes, when the report will arrive, what format it comes in, whether it goes to their solicitor or lender, whether they can discuss the findings and what happens if something serious is found.
Publish the timeline
Time from instruction to inspection, time from inspection to report, and how reports are delivered. Three lines on a page removes most of the chasing, and it manages the anxiety of people working to an exchange date.
Access is the usual delay
Surveys stall waiting for agents and vendors. Explaining who contacts whom, what happens if access cannot be arranged and how the client can help removes days from the process.
Client: When will I get the report? Assistant: The process page explains that inspections are usually booked within the number of working days shown once access is arranged, and reports are issued within the period listed afterwards. Could you confirm the property address and the agent's details, so the team can arrange access?
Urgent and same-week requests
Buyers under pressure from a lender deadline or a seller threatening to remarket need to know whether a faster inspection is possible and what it costs. Publishing whether you offer expedited appointments, and the premium if any, captures instructions that would otherwise go to whichever firm could attend first.
Reports for lenders and specific purposes
Some reports are required by a lender, an insurer or a local authority, each with their own requirements. Asking who the report is for, before booking, prevents producing something that does not satisfy the organisation that asked for it.
Attending the inspection
Many buyers want to be there. Explaining whether that is possible, and whether the surveyor can talk them through findings on site, sets expectations. Some firms welcome it, others do not, and either is fine if stated.
Never interpret findings
Once a report is issued, clients will ask what a condition rating means for them. That conversation belongs with the surveyor who inspected the property. An assistant can explain the report structure and arrange a call.
Sharing with solicitors and lenders
Buyers frequently need reports sent onward. Explaining what is shared, with whom and with what consent, prevents delays at exactly the point the transaction is moving.
Choosing the level first
Before instruction, the question is which survey to have, covered in survey type questions buyers ask before instructing.
The wider transaction
Buyers are juggling conveyancing and planning questions simultaneously, as described in conveyancing and legal process questions from buyers and planning and permission questions clients ask architects.
Repeated questions
Publishing once beats answering fifty times, which is the point of how financial advisors use chatbots to answer client questions.
Getting started
Publish your timeline, access process and report delivery, then answer client questions at any hour. SpideyChat for architects and surveyors answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.