u/octetUK

We’ve had an offer accepted on a big Victorian house (c.490 sqm, 1880s, three floors plus outbuildings) near Spalding, Lincolnshire. There’s a first-floor cracking pattern across several rooms that’s our main concern, so the structural assessment matters more than anything else in the survey.

The issue I keep hitting: most Level 3 surveyors will inspect and then say “we recommend you instruct a structural engineer,” i.e. refer it out, which means a second professional, a second fee and a second wait on the one thing we actually need answered. I’d rather instruct a firm that employs structural engineers in-house and can assess and (if needed) quantify the cracking within the report.

So, two questions:

**1.**	Can anyone recommend a surveying firm covering south Lincolnshire / the Spalding area that does Level 3 surveys **with structural engineering in-house** (not referred out)?  
**2.**	For those who’ve bought an older property with movement, did your Level 3 actually resolve the structural question, or did you end up paying separately for an engineer anyway? Trying to judge whether the in-house route is worth the premium.

Drone roof inspection and outbuildings also relevant, but the structural point is the priority. Thanks.

We’ve had an offer accepted on a big Victorian house (c.490 sqm, 1880s, three floors plus outbuildings) near Spalding, Lincolnshire. There’s a first-floor cracking pattern across several rooms that’s our main concern, so the structural assessment matters more than anything else in the survey.

The issue I keep hitting: most Level 3 surveyors will inspect and then say “we recommend you instruct a structural engineer,” i.e. refer it out, which means a second professional, a second fee and a second wait on the one thing we actually need answered. I’d rather instruct a firm that employs structural engineers in-house and can assess and (if needed) quantify the cracking within the report.

So, two questions:

**1.**	Can anyone recommend a surveying firm covering south Lincolnshire / the Spalding area that does Level 3 surveys **with structural engineering in-house** (not referred out)?  
**2.**	For those who’ve bought an older property with movement, did your Level 3 actually resolve the structural question, or did you end up paying separately for an engineer anyway? Trying to judge whether the in-house route is worth the premium.

Drone roof inspection and outbuildings also relevant, but the structural point is the priority. Thanks.