Monitoring Surveyor Valuations: What Happens at Each Site Visit

A monitoring surveyor, also known as a project monitor or lender's surveyor, is an independent RICS-qualified professional appointed by the lender to oversee the progress of a development throughout the construction period. Their primary role is to verify that construction is proceeding in accordance with the approved plans, that the quality of workmanship meets acceptable standards, that costs are being managed within budget, and that the build programme is on track. The monitoring surveyor acts as the lender's eyes and ears on site, providing objective reports that the lender uses to make drawdown decisions and assess ongoing risk.

The monitoring surveyor is not on your team, although a good one will work constructively with the developer to resolve issues rather than simply reporting problems. They are engaged and paid for by the borrower but owe their duty of care to the lender. This dual arrangement can create tension, particularly when the surveyor identifies issues that the developer would prefer to minimise. However, the monitoring surveyor serves an important quality assurance function that ultimately protects the developer as well as the lender, by ensuring that problems are identified and addressed early before they escalate into costly defects or programme delays.

For every development finance facility, the lender will instruct a monitoring surveyor before the first construction drawdown. The surveyor produces an initial report assessing the scheme's feasibility, the proposed build programme, the contractor's credentials, and the adequacy of the construction budget. This initial report forms the baseline against which all subsequent inspections are measured. The cost of the initial report is typically £1,500 to £3,000 depending on the size and complexity of the scheme, and this is charged to the borrower.

At each site visit, the monitoring surveyor conducts a systematic assessment covering several key areas. First, they verify the physical progress of construction against the approved build programme, noting which construction stages have been completed since the previous visit and whether the overall programme is on track. They will walk the entire site, inspecting work in progress and recording the status of each element including substructure, superstructure, roofing, external walls, windows and doors, first fix, second fix, and external works.

Second, the surveyor assesses the quality of workmanship. They will check that construction is being carried out in accordance with the approved drawings and building regulations, noting any defects, deviations from the specification, or areas of concern. Common issues flagged include poor mortar joints, inadequate cavity wall insulation installation, damp-proof course defects, and substandard drainage connections. While the monitoring surveyor is not a building control inspector, they bring a commercial awareness of how construction defects affect value and saleability that building control does not always consider.

Third, the surveyor reviews costs against budget. They will ask the developer to confirm expenditure to date and compare this against the cost plan and the proportion of work completed. If costs are running ahead of progress, this indicates potential budget overruns that the lender needs to be aware of. On a scheme with a construction budget of £1,200,000, if 40% of the budget has been spent but only 30% of the physical work is complete, the surveyor will flag a potential cost overrun of approximately £120,000 to £180,000 and the lender may withhold further drawdowns until the developer can explain the discrepancy.

Finally, the surveyor certifies the value of work completed to date and recommends the drawdown amount. This certification is what triggers the release of funds from the lender. The surveyor will only certify the value of work that has been inspected and verified as satisfactory. If they identify defective work, they will exclude its value from the certification until the defect has been rectified. This protects the lender from advancing funds against work that may need to be redone.

The frequency of monitoring visits varies depending on the lender, the size of the scheme, and the developer's track record. For most development finance facilities, visits are tied to drawdown requests, meaning the surveyor visits each time the developer asks to draw down funds. This is typically monthly for active schemes, although some smaller schemes may draw down less frequently. Some lenders require a minimum visit frequency regardless of drawdown requests, typically monthly or bi-monthly, to ensure they maintain oversight even if the developer is not requesting funds.

For first-time developers, lenders often require more frequent monitoring. Monthly visits are standard, and some lenders insist on fortnightly visits for the first few months until they are satisfied that the build is proceeding competently. The additional monitoring cost, typically £750 to £1,500 per visit, is borne by the developer. For an 18-month build with monthly visits, the total monitoring cost is approximately £13,500 to £27,000, which must be factored into the development appraisal. For more experienced developers with established lender relationships, visit frequency may be reduced to milestone-based inspections at key stages such as substructure completion, roof on, first fix complete, and practical completion.

The timing of monitoring visits requires coordination between the developer, the surveyor, and the lender. Once the developer submits a drawdown request, the lender instructs the monitoring surveyor to conduct a visit, which typically takes place within 5-10 working days. The surveyor then has a further 3-5 working days to produce their report, and the lender needs 2-3 working days to review the report and authorise the drawdown. The total cycle from drawdown request to funds in the developer's account is therefore 10-18 working days, which must be factored into the project's cash flow planning. We advise our clients to submit drawdown requests at least three weeks before funds are needed to avoid cash flow gaps that could delay the build programme.

The monitoring surveyor's report directly determines whether and how much the lender will release at each drawdown. A positive report confirming that work is on programme, within budget, and to an acceptable quality will result in the full requested drawdown being approved. A report that identifies issues will trigger one of several outcomes depending on the severity of the concerns. Minor issues such as small snagging items or minor programme slippage will usually be noted in the report with a recommendation to the developer to address them before the next visit, but the drawdown will proceed.

More significant issues can result in the drawdown being reduced or withheld entirely. If the surveyor determines that the value of work completed is less than the amount requested, the drawdown will be reduced to match the certified value. For example, if the developer requests £150,000 but the surveyor certifies only £120,000 of completed work, the lender will advance £120,000 and retain £30,000 until additional work is verified. If the surveyor identifies serious quality defects, the lender may withhold the entire drawdown until the defects are rectified and the surveyor has conducted a follow-up inspection confirming satisfactory remediation.

In the most severe cases, the monitoring surveyor may recommend that the lender takes immediate action, such as requiring the developer to replace the contractor, commissioning an independent structural assessment, or suspending the facility until specific conditions are met. These situations are rare but can occur when the surveyor identifies systemic quality issues, evidence of fraud, or fundamental deviations from the approved scheme. In our experience, the vast majority of monitoring issues are resolved through constructive dialogue between the developer, the surveyor, and the lender. For guidance on how to approach your development finance application, submit your scheme through our deal room.

Good preparation for monitoring visits saves time, reduces the risk of delayed drawdowns, and builds a positive relationship with the surveyor that benefits you throughout the project. Before each visit, ensure the site is safe and accessible, with appropriate personal protective equipment available for the surveyor. Remove any obstructions that might prevent them from inspecting completed work, and ensure that any areas they need to access, such as trenches, upper floors, or roof spaces, are safely accessible.

Have documentation ready for the surveyor's review. This includes updated cost reports showing expenditure against budget, copies of any building control inspection certificates issued since the last visit, details of any variations to the approved scheme, and photographic records of work that has been completed and covered up since the last inspection. Work that is completed and then covered, such as foundations, damp-proof courses, and insulation, cannot be inspected at a later visit, so photographic evidence is essential. The surveyor will rely on building control sign-offs and your photographs to certify the value of hidden work.

Prepare a clear summary of progress since the last visit, highlighting which construction stages have been completed and which are in progress. If there have been any programme delays, explain the cause and your mitigation plan. If there have been any cost variations, detail what has changed and how it affects the overall budget. Transparency is always the best approach with monitoring surveyors. Attempting to conceal problems or exaggerate progress will be identified by an experienced surveyor and will undermine trust, which can lead to more rigorous scrutiny and slower drawdown approvals throughout the remainder of the project.

Based on our experience managing hundreds of development finance facilities, the most commonly flagged issues fall into three categories: programme delays, quality concerns, and cost overruns. Programme delays are flagged in approximately 40-50% of monitoring reports at some stage during the build. Weather delays, subcontractor availability, material supply issues, and unforeseen ground conditions are the most frequent causes. Lenders accept that some programme slippage is inevitable, but persistent delays that push the project beyond the facility term are a serious concern because they increase the total cost of finance and may require a facility extension, which involves additional fees.

Quality issues are flagged in approximately 20-30% of reports. The most common relate to brickwork quality, pointing and jointing standards, insulation installation, ventilation compliance, and surface water drainage. Most of these are remedied quickly at the surveyor's recommendation, but recurring quality issues may indicate a systemic problem with the contractor that the lender will want addressed. On one scheme we managed, the monitoring surveyor identified cavity wall tie spacing that did not comply with the approved structural design. The remediation cost was £18,000, but if it had not been identified until later, the cost would have been significantly higher and the completed units may have had structural warranty issues.

Cost overruns are flagged in approximately 15-25% of reports. These often emerge gradually as the build progresses, with individual elements coming in slightly above budget. The monitoring surveyor tracks cumulative cost performance against the cost plan and will alert the lender when the trend suggests the contingency may be insufficient to absorb the overruns. Early identification of cost pressure gives the developer time to value-engineer remaining works, negotiate with contractors, or arrange additional equity before the situation becomes critical. For guidance on managing your development costs and finance structure, see our article on calculating GDV and contact our team through the deal room.