The Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist Every Buyer Should Print
Sixty-eight items your surveyor should tick — from osmosis mapping to running-gear alignment and electronics currency.
The pre-purchase inspection is the single most consequential day of the acquisition process. Insist the vessel is hauled out, tanks partially filled, and all systems commissioned for a full-power sea trial the same day.
Hull: moisture mapping, osmosis check, keel-hull joint, rudder bearings, through-hulls and seacocks, antifoul condition, anode wear. Superstructure: paint condition, hairline cracks at stress points, hatch and window seals.
Machinery: oil analysis on all engines and gearboxes, borescope of cylinder heads on any engine over 2,000 hours, generator load-bank test, watermaker output, HVAC discharge temperatures, battery bank health.
Documentation: class certificates, radio licence, MCA compliance (if commercial), lifting equipment inspection, tender registration and CE marking, complete refit invoice trail. Missing paperwork is expensive to reconstruct.