What is a Pre-Purchase Survey?

The purpose of obtaining a pre-purchase survey on a boat is to gain as much information on the condition of a boat as possible before you buy it. What the surveyor does, and how he does it has a lot to do with his skill, experience, and personal methods of work. The amount of information that can be obtained is dependent on a variety of factors. These range from the boat itself, to how much you are willing to pay to get the information.

The most common question a surveyor is asked by someone who has never experienced the survey process is, "what do you do?" This is not an easy thing to answer for a process that basically takes an entire day to accomplish. To put it as succinctly as possible, the primary work of the surveyor is observation and testing. The two most important tools that a surveyor possesses do not consist of a box of fancy digital instruments, but his experience and his skill in observation. Needless to say, the better educated, the more experienced, the more careful a surveyor is, the higher the caliber of his work will be. To make a long story short, the survey involves examining every aspect of the boat possible without taking it apart, and includes testing of all major systems. The process naturally focuses on the most important/ most expensive aspects first. We are less concerned with whether the coffee maker or stereo system works, than we are with the more important aspects, such as major machinery and hull construction are sound.