How Much Does a Boat Survey Cost?
Pre-purchase surveys run $1,050 to $1,650 for most boats up to 55 feet. Insurance and condition surveys start at $1,050. Over 55 feet, let’s talk about the boat.
That is the real range, not a teaser. Beyond it, what I can do is tell you exactly what moves the number, so the quote makes sense when you get it.
Why don’t I charge by the foot?
Per foot is the usual method in this industry, and it’s easy to explain and easy to compare. It also charges two completely different boats the same amount, because a foot of boat is not a unit of work.
Take two 32-footers. One’s a center console with a pair of outboards, a battery switch, and a panel you can read at a glance. The other is a 32-foot cruiser with twin diesels, a generator, a hot water heater, an inverter and a house bank, solar on the hardtop, and a bow thruster. Same length. Same number on a rate card.
They’re not the same survey. The second one runs most of a day longer, and a good part of that is the writing afterward. I came out of consulting, where you price work by the effort it takes, and that’s how I price a survey. Charging the center console owner the same as the twin-diesel owner because a tape measure says 32 feet isn’t fair to the center console owner.
What Determines the Price
Five things, roughly in order of how much they matter: length, survey type, the vessel’s age and systems complexity, whether a haul-out is involved, and where the boat is.
Vessel Length
Length is the usual headline because it drives inspection time. A larger vessel has more hull to sound, more systems to trace and more running gear to assess. It is a reasonable proxy, but it is not the whole story, which is why length alone will not get you a quote from me.
The number of hulls counts too. A 40-foot catamaran is two hulls, two engine spaces, two sets of through-hulls, and usually a larger electrical system than the monohull tied up next to it. It is closer to surveying two boats that happen to share a bridge deck.
Survey Type
A full pre-purchase survey is the most thorough and takes the longest. An insurance condition and valuation survey is narrower but adds the valuation work. A damage survey is scoped to the incident. A preliminary walk-through is shorter by design. An appraisal adds comparable sales research on top of the inspection.
Vessel Age and Systems Complexity
An older boat takes longer, because there is more history to read and more places for it to have gone wrong. So does a complex one. A vessel with bow and stern thrusters, a generator, air conditioning, a lithium bank and integrated electronics has considerably more to inspect than a simple outboard boat of the same length.
Age is slower in three places, not one. More time aboard documenting what’s there. More time working out why exactly something isn’t doing what it’s supposed to, because “doesn’t work” isn’t a finding anybody can act on. And more time writing, because on a thirty-year-old boat there’s simply more to write.
Systems are the same story. Every one of them is another thing to inspect, test, photograph and write up against the published standard it is supposed to meet. A finding that says the wiring looks poor is an opinion. A finding written against ABYC E-11 is a specification, and a yard can price it. The second kind takes longer to produce, and it’s the only kind worth paying for.
Haul-Out and Yard Fees
Inspecting the bottom properly means getting the boat out of the water. That is a yard cost, billed by the yard rather than by me, and it is worth knowing about in advance so it does not arrive as a surprise. For most pre-purchase surveys it is money well spent, because the bottom is where the expensive findings live.
Ask the yard what a short haul runs when you are setting the date, and budget for it alongside my number.
Travel and Location
I cover a long stretch of coast and travel is part of the job. Where a boat sits well outside the usual run, that shows up in the quote rather than in a surprise later.
Why There Is a Minimum
$1,050 is a floor because a good part of the job doesn’t get smaller when the boat does.
The drive is the drive and the fuel is the fuel. The report takes hours to write whatever the length of the vessel, and there’s a real cost to producing and delivering it. Behind that sits the business: insurance, membership dues, continuing education, and the on-site training I travel to and pay for.
I want to be the best at this. That means putting money back into the work instead of finding ways to spend less on it, and the floor is what makes that possible. What you’re paying for is the time that goes into getting it right, and the training behind it.
What the Fee Covers
The full inspection, every finding written against the standard it is measured by, and the report itself. Your report is delivered the next day. Not next week.
If you want to see exactly what I inspect and which standard each area is checked against, it is all written out on what a boat survey includes. If the survey is for your insurer rather than a purchase, the insurance survey page covers what the carrier is asking for.
Getting a Quote for Your Boat
Call or email with the make, model, year, length, location and what the survey is for. You will get a straight number for your boat, and I would rather spend two minutes on the phone than have you work from a figure that was never about your vessel.
What a Client Said About the Cost
Andrew was more — in every way. Andrew Gallant was more in every sense of the word: more thorough, more knowledgeable, more communicative, and yes — more expensive — but every bit of that extra cost was worth it. From the start, he was patient and considerate of my limited knowledge, taking the time to clearly explain everything without making me feel rushed or overwhelmed. He waited extra time (without complaint) while we had to call the owner to come move the boat onto the trailer, and still maintained a calm, professional demeanor throughout. Unlike the mechanic I brought, who offered mostly grunts and vague answers, Andrew was clear, methodical, and extremely helpful in pointing out the important things — without overreacting or unnecessarily condemning items. I genuinely felt more comfortable and confident having him there. When you're making a big purchase like a boat, you need someone like Andrew in your corner. Don't be pennywise and pound foolish — go with someone who gives you peace of mind. Andrew was worth every bit more he provided.