Site surveys before the quote: May 2025

Part 23 of 39 of Building TradeYoke, the story of how the platform was built, from January 2024 to today. Previous: April 2025: expiry dates, so a certificate never runs out unnoticed. Next: June 2025: inspections, checklists with pass or fail, evidence and sign-off. See every part on the build timeline.

Quick answer

Quick answer: A site survey in TradeYoke is a job in its own right that you do before the quote: you visit, measure, photograph and note anything that must be verified, then build the quote from what you found. It exists because some work, such as a large garden, a conservatory or an unusual property, cannot be priced honestly without looking at it first.

Key takeaways

Some work cannot be priced honestly without a visit first.
A survey is its own job: measure, photograph and note what must be verified.
The quote is built from what the survey found, so nothing is guessed afterwards.
It is useful in more than one trade, from grounds maintenance to solar.

When you cannot quote from the doorstep

A regular window clean is priced from experience: you know the house type and the price. Not all work is like that. A garden that has been left for a year, a large commercial building, a property with awkward access: you cannot give an honest price without going to look. Pricing without looking leads to one of two outcomes, a price too high that loses the job or a price too low that loses money on it.

The survey as its own job

In May 2025 we added site surveys as a job in their own right. You visit, measure, take photographs, and note anything that must be verified before the work starts, such as whether there is parking, where the stopcock is, or whether the roof will take the load. It is done on the phone, on site, while you are still standing there.

From survey to quote

The survey exists to feed the quote. Once it is done, the quote is built from what you found rather than from memory. That is better for you, because the figures are there when you price. It is also better for the customer, because the photographs and notes show them why the price is what it is.

Useful in more than one trade

A survey for a gardener is a walk round a garden with a note of the beds and the hedge. For a solar installer it is the roof, the meter and the consumer unit. The idea is the same whatever the trade. Our guide to paperwork and compliance covers the wider picture.

What a survey is not

It is not a way of charging for a quote, and it does not replace judgement. It is a way of writing down what you saw while you are still standing there.

June: inspections, the checklist you do when the work is already installed or underway.

Questions people ask

What is a site survey in TradeYoke?

A job you do before the quote: you visit, measure, photograph and note anything that must be verified, then build the quote from what you found.

Which kinds of work suit a survey?

Any work that cannot be priced honestly from the doorstep: a large or overgrown garden, an unusual property, or a solar or electrical job where you need to see the installation first.