Pre-Purchase House Survey in Ireland: What It Covers — and What It Can't
A surveyor inspects the building. The records that decide insurability, running costs and resale — flood history, radon, planning, sold prices — are desk research. You need both.
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Enter the Eircode — 18 location checks, free snapshot in about a minute.
What is a pre-purchase house survey?
A pre-purchase survey is an inspection of a property's physical condition, carried out for the buyer by a building professional before contracts are signed. The surveyor examines the structure, roof, walls, damp, drainage and visible defects, and reports what would be expensive to fix — typically for €450–€799 (typical published price range across Irish providers, verified 15 August 2026).
It is not the same as the lender's valuation: the valuation is a brief market-value check for the bank. The survey is the inspection that protects you — under caveat emptor, defects discovered after signing are the buyer's problem. Citizens Information and the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland both recommend one for any second-hand purchase.
Book it after your offer is accepted. Before that point, the inexpensive checks below do the filtering — see where the survey sits in the 12-step buying-a-house checklist.
What does the surveyor check on the day?
The physical building, inside and out: structural condition and cracking, the roof and chimneys, damp and ventilation, windows, visible plumbing and wiring, drainage, boundaries as seen on the ground, and attics or crawl spaces where accessible. The output is a written report flagging defects, their likely seriousness, and where specialist follow-up is needed.
Structure
Walls, foundations as visible, cracking patterns and movement.
Roof & chimneys
Coverings, flashings, gutters, visible timbers from the attic.
Damp & ventilation
Rising and penetrating damp, condensation, airflow.
Services (visible)
Plumbing, heating and wiring as visible — not a full test.
What does a survey NOT check?
The location and its records. A surveyor standing in the building cannot see flood mapping, the EPA radon band, the planning pipeline or what the neighbours' houses sold for — that is desk research on 12 official datasets. None of these 18 checks is part of a standard pre-purchase survey:
Flood RiskOPW floodinfo.ie
Is the address inside an OPW-mapped river, coastal or surface-water flood extent — the mapping insurers consult when deciding whether to quote flood cover.
Read the Flood Risk guideRadon RiskEPA
The EPA radon band at this exact location. In the highest band, about 1 in 5 homes tested are above the reference level.
Read the Radon Risk guideBER RatingSEAI
The building's official SEAI energy rating, what it means for heating bills, and grant-backed upgrade steps with costs and payback.
Read the BER Rating guideProperty PricesProperty Price Register
What nearby homes actually sold for on the Property Price Register — county and national averages, the year-on-year trend, and comparable sales.
Read the Property Prices guidePlanning ApplicationsLocal Authority
Planning applications around the address — granted, refused and pending — so nothing being built nearby surprises you after you've bid.
Read the Planning Applications guideBroadband CoverageComReg
ComReg coverage for the Eircode: the maximum speed available, the connection type, and which operators serve the address.
Read the Broadband Coverage guideSchoolsDept of Education
Primary and secondary schools around the address — how many sit within 5 km, the nearest, and crèche availability.
Read the Schools guideCrime StatisticsCSO
Recorded crime for the local Garda division from CSO statistics, compared against the national rate, with the nearest Garda station.
Read the Crime Statistics guideAir QualityEPA
EPA air-quality monitoring data for the area — how clean the air is where you're about to live.
Read the Air Quality guideNoise LevelsEPA
EPA noise mapping for the area — the noise exposure a short, well-timed viewing won't reveal.
Geology & SubsidenceGSI
GSI data on the ground beneath the property — bedrock, subsoil and features associated with subsidence risk.
Coastal ErosionOPW / GSI
Whether coastal erosion mapping or coastal flood extents affect the address — essential anywhere within sight of the sea.
Mica & Pyritegov.ie DCB Scheme / Pyrite Resolution Board
Whether the address sits in an area designated under the Defective Concrete Blocks or Pyrite Remediation Schemes — a county-level scheme designation, not a property survey.
Transport & CommuteNTA / TFI
How you'd actually get around: nearest rail, stops within 5 km, motorway access and how car-dependent the address is.
Read the Transport & Commute guideHealthcare AccessHSE
Drive time to the nearest A&E, plus the GPs and pharmacies within 10 km of the address.
Local Property TaxRevenue.ie
The Revenue LPT band for the price bracket, the annual charge, and how the council's local adjustment factor moves it.
Insurance & Carrying CostSynthesised (BER + LPT + Flood + Coastal + Radon)
An annual carrying-cost estimate built from the BER, LPT and risk findings — plus the cash needed at the asking price: deposit, stamp duty, legal and survey costs.
Neighbourhood & LifestyleCSO SAPS + Google Places + Sport Ireland
Who and what is around you: the census small-area profile, essentials within a 10-minute drive, and the peak commute to the city.
Bring the desk checks to your survey
The two halves are strongest combined. A flagged flood history tells the surveyor to look hard at damp-proofing and drainage. A high radon band is a reason to ask about membranes and sumps. A county-level mica designation is a reason to ask whether the cracking they see warrants an I.S. 465 specialist assessment. Sold-price comparables tell you whether the asking price already reflects what the survey finds.
The desk half takes about a minute and the free snapshot shows every check's risk level; the full 18-check PDF is €29 and arrives in 2-3 minutes — see a full sample report first if you like.
Check the address before the inspection
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Survey vs snag list: which does a new build need?
For a new build, a snag list largely takes the structural survey's place. A snagger inspects the finished house before you close — paintwork, fittings, doors, incomplete work — and the builder fixes the listed items; structural warranties cover certain major defects for years afterwards.
What a snag list shares with a survey: neither checks the location. A brand-new estate can sit on flood-risk land, in the EPA's highest radon band, or beside a planning pipeline that changes the area — run the desk checks on a new build exactly as you would on a second-hand home.
Pre-Purchase Surveys: FAQs
A surveyor's pre-purchase survey typically costs €450–€799 in Ireland, depending on the property's size, age and location (typical published price range across Irish providers, verified 15 August 2026). It usually takes days to weeks to arrange, depending on surveyor availability.
No — no law requires a buyer to commission a survey. Your mortgage lender will require a valuation, but that is a brief market-value check for the bank, not an inspection for you. A survey is strongly recommended all the same: once you sign contracts, defects become your problem under caveat emptor.
A valuation is commissioned for the lender to confirm the property is adequate security for the mortgage — it is short, market-focused and not a structural assessment. A pre-purchase survey is commissioned by you: a building professional inspects the property's condition — structure, roof, damp, visible defects — and reports what they find before you commit.
After your offer is accepted and before contracts are signed. Surveying every house you bid on would cost thousands — that's why buyers run the inexpensive desk checks on every contender first (€29 with a free snapshot in about a minute), and pay a surveyor once, on the house they're actually buying.
Run the location's data checks and bring the flags to the inspection. If the desk check shows recorded flood events nearby, ask the surveyor to pay particular attention to damp-proofing and drainage; if the address is in the EPA's highest radon band, ask about sump or membrane provision; if the county carries a Defective Concrete Blocks designation, ask whether the visible cracking patterns warrant an I.S. 465 assessment by a specialist.
For a new build, a snag list largely takes the structural survey's place: a snagger inspects the finished house for defects and incomplete work before you close, while structural warranties cover certain major defects. The location checks apply unchanged — new estates can sit on flood-risk land or in high-radon areas like any other address.
Official data sourced from Irish government agencies
Sale agreed? Check the address before the surveyor visits
Enter the Eircode — 18 location checks, free snapshot in about a minute.