Survey costs

[MarkMT 69]

Hi, can someone give me an idea of roughly what I should be budgeting for a pre-purchase survey on a 38ft timber yacht?

[Frank 192]

$1000 to $1200 

[LBD 196]

2023, 37" 23 yo traditional timber sail boat... excluding slipping costs

 

[khayyam 108]

$60/min travel charge would get serious very quickly around Auckland! 

[LBD 196]

 

51 minutes ago, khayyam said:

$60/min travel charge would get serious very quickly around Auckland! 

That was $60 minimum charge around AKL... as you see, he did not charge any travel to Orams and back from North shore

[Psyche 879]

There is no statutory licensing of marine surveyors, caveat emptor applies. $160 a metre plus disbursements and GST? One would expect the report to be written on a papyrus scroll with gold lettering. 

The question I would ask; is the surveyor insured and whats your comeback if a fault is discovered down the track if you subsequently relied on the survey to make a purchasing or maintenance decision

[LBD 196]

I will not mention names, but he was professional, prepared a very good report and yes had insurance. And he found a couple of small problems I had not despite my extensive experience. He also had industry kudos when it came to insurance matters.

 

But as my Daddy always said, if you want top quality oats for your horse then expect to pay top dollar. But if you want oats that have already been through a horse, well you can get that a little cheaper.

[K4309 439]

On 8/10/2025 at 10:24 PM, MarkMT said:

Hi, can someone give me an idea of roughly what I should be budgeting for a pre-purchase survey on a 38ft timber yacht?

I had to get a survey for a 37ft timber yacht mid last year.

Key point is that I needed a survey to renew existing insurance, so very different to a pre-purchase inspection, specifically in level of detail of survey and level of documentation. Mine was filling out a 2 page form, compared to a multi page inspection report with a large number of photos. Noting I already owned all the risk, this was an administrative job for my current insurer. Not a situation where I was wanting to know what risk I might be buying in a new to me boat.

I got my insurance survey done for about $1k by a boatbuilder that already knew and had worked on the boat (now completely retired I think).

All the specialist surveyors were in the order of $2,500 - $3k

By specialist surveyor I mean someone that runs and advertises a survey business, has insurance and has disputes etc with various people to deal with. I spoke to several of the available surveyors in the Auckland area.

I would say that Frank's estimate above of $1,000-$1,200 would be about right if you were using a boat builder to give it a once over for things you may have missed, but you'd probably be on your own if you found defects post purchase. The $2.5-$3k price range is if you want someone else (the surveyor) to take liability if you found post purchase defects.

What suits you would depend on the value of the boat, your pragmatism about fixing things yourself, and you general comfort levels with exposure to risk.

[Black Panther 1,806]

20 hours ago, Psyche said:

There is no statutory licensing of marine surveyors, caveat emptor applies. $160 a metre plus disbursements and GST? One would expect the report to be written on a papyrus scroll with gold lettering. 

The question I would ask; is the surveyor insured and whats your comeback if a fault is discovered down the track if you subsequently relied on the survey to make a purchasing or maintenance decision

In which case can I write my own?

[MarkMT 69]

Thanks all. Appreciate your comments.

[Frank 192]

9 hours ago, Black Panther said:

In which case can I write my own?

Joking aside its a fair question because as Psyche mentions there is no licensing, qualification or registration as far as I can tell ( it might be different for commercial vessels) e.g the surveyor who did our Hood 38 for offshore insurance was obviously knowledgeable and experienced  but after questioning him I was left with the sense that you just hang out your shingle, get insurance  and bingo you are in business. At that time he told me he had just been refused renewal of liability insurance by his usual provider so had to organise his own with Lloyds of london. Coming back to your question then as i see it once you are in business you still could not survey your own boat as the insurers want an independent report, perhaps you could do a contra deal with another surveyor who has a boat

[LE Bb 33]

It comes down to the inspectors insurance level. 

I surveyor has done some training/courses and is reconised by there public liability insurances.

A boatbuilder cannot typically use the word Survey because of it's legal obligations, and typically their liability isurances wont allow it.

A lot of boatbuilders are recognised with the local insurace companys for inspection purposes, and bi-annual condition reports.

[Psyche 879]

Thats the point I am making, that for our purposes there is no training etc that results in a recognised qualification called Marine Surveyor. There are groups that make up their own rules and you can join one but there is no such thing as a govt recognised license to survey recreational vessels. So what we are relying on is the surveyors actual experience in the industry as either a boat builder, engineer or whatever. Given that the typical boat has rigging, (a specialty especially with complex multi spreaders and/or composite spars plus related systems) an electrical system that ranges from a lighter socket to a sprawling layout with technically complex electronics, charging systems, networks etc, add in the engine and gearbox that may have a shaft, seals or a saildrive- do they do an oil analysis/compression test or is it a visual with a quick start up?  Moving on to construction, we have timber; planked, ply, glued (epoxy, aerodux, resorcinol, 5200 etc) riveted, screwed, strip planked, tight seamed, cold moulded, 3 skin, 2 skin...then glass, cored, (balsa, foam etc) poly, vinyl, epoxy, carbon kevlar, infused, wet layup, and so on each with its own foibles. Wait  until we get to keel bolts and structural detail. It's a big subject and for one man to really do a thorough job on all systems is a big ask. However most surveys done for insurance purposes are limited to basic parameters- does it float, will it keep floating and will the mast stay standing up. I've heard absolute shockers about surveyors condemning boats for issues that forced sales for cents on the dollar only for the new owner to spend a weekend with a grinder metaphorically and get a thoroughly good boat. All because of a bad survey, and others where the survey did not find major structural issues and the boat being seriously devalued when problems appeared.

So unless the surveyor has good insurance which they tell me is about 12k a year, plus a good reputation then you may as well hunt out the cheapest boatbuilder who is willing to put their name on a bit of paper and take your chances.

[ex Elly 268]

We paid $150 per meter, plus $150 travel 4 years ago. (ex gst). So over $2000 total.

 

 

[Cameron 108]

https://www.marinesurveygroup.nz