Buying a boat advice: Survey

Unless you are a qualified marine engineer or just very lucky, you need to call in a surveyor on most boat purchases before you buy a boat.

Boats are fairly complex machines whose components and overall build need to be professionally scrutinised. The purpose of a survey is not to nit-pick and chip away at the offer price, it is to avoid a bad boat, one that will require serious and on going remedial work.

Other, more serious or expensive issues or faults can be discussed and the offer price negotiated accordingly.

Surveys predominantly form part of a used boat deal but can be employed for new boat sales.