Buying • Selling • Building
Part 7
In this 12-part series Rosemont Yacht Services looks at key transaction issues in Superyacht Acquisitions, Superyacht Sales and Superyacht New Builds, and considers how we can assist owners in the process.
The Yacht Survey from the Seller's Side: Preparing for the Buyer's Inspection
Prepare the yacht and records
The captain should understand the trial and survey programme and have service and technical records available. Systems that cannot be demonstrated can create uncertainty even when they work. Preparing for survey should never mean attempting to disguise a defect; it means ensuring systems can be tested and maintenance history explained accurately.
Agree the survey logistics early
Haul-out slots, technicians and specialist surveyors may be difficult to arrange at short notice, particularly during the Mediterranean season. The seller should coordinate the proposed survey window with the captain and broker as soon as the contract timetable is known.
Understand the contractual test
A survey report may contain many observations.
Factual corrections, routine maintenance, cosmetic items, findings that may meet the contract’s applicable defect threshold and commercial requests do not necessarily have the same contractual consequence. The seller’s technical and legal teams should assess significant findings together.
Respond to the survey report
The seller should avoid reacting to the sheer length of a survey report. Each material item should be considered with the captain, technical adviser and transaction team, with an estimated cost and proposed response where appropriate.
Document the solution
Where repairs are appropriate, agree scope, standard, timing and verification. Other matters may be resolved by price adjustment, retention or another agreed solution. Avoid informal promises outside the written settlement.
Control the repair programme
If repairs are agreed, one person should maintain a schedule showing each item, responsible contractor, expected completion date, cost and evidence required for sign-off. Will the buyer’s surveyor reinspect? Is a yard invoice sufficient? What happens if a part cannot arrive before delivery? The appropriate technical professional should determine whether the work itself is satisfactory.
Keep the commercial objective in view
A repair that costs relatively little but requires a specialist yard slot several weeks later may be less attractive than an agreed financial adjustment; conversely, a repair that can be completed quickly may be preferable to reducing the price. The right solution depends on cost, certainty, delivery timing and buyer confidence.
The final inspection starts with the survey record
Once survey issues have been resolved, the seller should retain a clear schedule showing what was accepted, repaired or dealt with financially.
Photographs, contractor reports and invoices may provide useful evidence. This continuity reduces uncertainty at final inspection and helps keep closing focused on whether the agreed transaction is ready to complete.
How Rosemont Yacht Services can assist
The technical assessment of the yacht remains the responsibility of appointed surveyors and technical professionals, while contractual interpretation should be addressed by the parties’ legal advisers. RYS can support the transaction coordination surrounding that process.
RYS can liaise with the broker, captain, manager and other advisers regarding the timetable, maintain a central schedule of agreed actions and ensure survey-related requirements affecting closing are incorporated into the wider transaction checklist.
Where repairs or other actions are agreed, RYS can track the responsible party, target completion date and required evidence, while the appropriate technical professional determines whether the work itself has been satisfactorily completed.
The objective is not to manage the technical survey, but to ensure that its agreed outcomes are properly coordinated through to delivery.
RYS Transaction Check
☐ Survey logistics agreed?
☐ Technical records ready for inspection?
☐ Each significant finding categorised?
☐ Contractual deadlines identified?
☐ Proposed response agreed for each material item?
☐ Repair scope, contractor and deadline recorded?
☐ Evidence/sign-off requirement defined?
☐ Cost and delivery impact understood?
☐ Agreed matters documented?
☐ Final inspection linked back to the survey record?
You may also be interested in
- Insight - The Complete Guide to Superyacht Ownership by Rosemont Yacht Services
- Who we are - Rosemont Yacht Services
- Part 6 – Preparing a Yacht for Sale: Why the Work Should Start Before the Yacht Is Listed
- Part 8 – The Yacht Has Been Sold - Is the Seller Really Finished?
Important note: General information only. Transaction-specific legal, tax, customs, regulatory and flag advice should be obtained where required.