Survey guide

What an ASHP survey report needs before design starts

A neutral checklist of the details that stop design, quoting, and installation decisions from drifting apart.

Published: 18 January 2026 Last reviewed: 2 April 2026

Last reviewed: 2 April 2026. This page is written as a practical checklist rather than a sales comparison.

If this relates to a live job, our heat pump survey page explains what we capture before design.

Most avoidable re-questions do not come from exotic technical problems. They come from ordinary missing details: radiator sizes not recorded, cylinder space not shown properly, electrics photographed too loosely, or the outdoor-unit discussion left at “probably fine”.

What a usable ASHP survey report should cover

Area	What should be clear
Rooms and emitters	Room dimensions, emitter type, size, and anything unusual that affects sizing or replacement.
Existing heating	Boiler, controls, pipework clues, and anything that affects the transition path.
Hot water	Current cylinder arrangement, likely replacement position, and usable space around it.
Electrics	Consumer unit, supply details, spare ways, meter position, and obvious upgrade constraints.
Outdoor-unit context	Possible locations, boundaries, routes, maintenance access, and neighbour context.

Details that are often missed

Radiators photographed without a record of size or type.
Consumer unit photos that do not actually show the detail the office needs.
Cylinder and plant space captured too tightly to judge whether the replacement arrangement is workable.
External routes described in words only, without photos that help the next person follow the logic.

Why this matters before design, not after

Once the quote is sent, missing information becomes more expensive. The design has to pause, the office has to chase, and the customer hears a more hesitant answer than they should. The simplest way to avoid that is still to gather the right information once, on site, in a report people can actually use.

Sources

If you want to compare this checklist against a live layout, you can view the sample survey report.

Practical use

How to use this page on a live job

Use this guide as a decision check, not as a generic reading page. The useful question is whether the evidence behind what an ashp survey report needs before design starts is strong enough for an installer, designer, or homeowner to move to the next step without another round of avoidable questions.

Before booking

Confirm what evidence is missing

For ashp survey evidence, the weak point is usually not the headline requirement. It is the missing photo, document, measurement, or site note that stops the next person from trusting the job record.

During survey

Capture the detail once, then label it properly

A survey report should show what was seen, what was measured, what could not be accessed, and what still needs a design or installer decision. That keeps assumptions visible instead of hiding them inside a photo set.

After delivery

Use the report to reduce internal handover friction

The office, design, and install teams should be able to open the same report and understand the evidence path. If the page helps you spot what to ask for before survey day, it has done its job.

For a live project, pair this guidance with the sample report, deliverables, and guide price builder so the job is reviewed against the same standard Vertex uses for survey delivery.