Somebody you have not met is coming to your house. Here is exactly what that involves, so it holds no surprises.
There may be two visits, and they are different
A first look is short — often under half an hour. The installer wants to see whether the job is straightforward before either of you spends more time on it: where an outdoor unit could go, whether there is a sensible route for the pipes, what the electrics look like. Not every job needs one.
A full survey is the real thing, and takes one to three hours depending on how many rooms are involved. The installer measures each room, records the windows and which way they face, notes the construction, photographs what matters, and works out where each indoor unit goes and how the pipework reaches it. That is what the design and the quote are built from.
Nothing is booked until you say so
Your installer proposes a time. You accept it, or you say which days and which part of the day would suit better, and they settle it. You will get an email either way, and nothing goes in a diary over your head.
What to do beforehand
Not much. Clear access to the rooms being surveyed, and to wherever the outdoor unit might go — usually an outside wall, a flat roof or a bit of ground beside the house. If there is a loft involved, they will need to get into it.
When you confirm the visit we ask two practical things: whether there are pets on the premises, and anything about getting in — a gate code, where to park, which door. Both are about the building and the arrival. You can also leave a note for the surveyor if there is something you want them to know.
Their notes are yours to see
Surveyors write working notes during a visit. Those notes are about your home, so they form part of your data and you can ask for them at any time — see what we keep about you. Your installer knows that when they write them.
Afterwards
You get the design as a document you can read, with the calculations behind it and a covering note from the installer. Nothing is agreed until you accept it, and you can ask for changes.