Insurance Survey Checklist: Pass on the First Try

Insurance surveys exist to protect the underwriter from writing a policy on a sinking boat. They're conservative on purpose. We've seen otherwise excellent boats fail surveys over $200 worth of trivial issues — and the resulting required repairs and re-surveys cost the buyer or owner a month of delay and several thousand dollars in haul-outs. Here's exactly what the surveyor will check, and how to pass on the first visit.

Through-hulls and seacocks (#1 fail item)

Surveyors will ohm-out and operate every seacock. Stuck handles fail. Pink-tinted bronze (dezincification) fails. Plastic Marelon fittings older than 10 years fail. Make sure every seacock operates by hand, that bronze fittings are visually inspected for color change, and that any failed fittings are replaced before the survey — not promised to be replaced.

• Every seacock must operate by hand (not stuck)
• No pink color on bronze (dezincification = replace)
• Marelon over 10 years → replace
• Above-waterline thru-hulls also count (head, sink drains)
• Bonding wire continuous on all underwater metals

Safety equipment

USCG-required gear must be present, in date, and accessible. Flares within 42 months of manufacture. Fire extinguishers tagged within the last year, pressure in green, secured. Life jackets in the right type and quantity. Distress signaling. Sound-producing device. EPIRB (offshore boats) with current registration. Most failures here are silly — expired flares are the #1 cause.

• Flares — within 42 months of manufacture date
• Fire extinguishers — annual tag, in pressure, secured
• Life jackets — Type I or II per person, plus throwable
• Distress signal (mirror, whistle, dye marker)
• Sound device (horn or whistle)
• Anchor + rode appropriate for the boat
• First aid kit

Electrical (more failures than you'd think)

Surveyors look for non-tinned wire (corrodes, fails), undersized wire on high-amp circuits, bare conductors, missing or burnt fuses, overloaded panels, missing battery box covers, and DC negatives sharing screws with AC grounds. Anything that's been jury-rigged with a wire nut and electrical tape will be flagged.

• All marine wire must be tinned and stranded
• Battery boxes must have covers (vented for wet-cell)
• Fuses or breakers within 7" of every battery + power source
• AC and DC grounds NOT sharing connections
• Wire nuts and electrical tape are not marine
• Shore-power inlet cover must close and seal

Engine and fuel system

Fuel tank fill caps must be grounded (gas boats — anti-static). Fuel hoses must be marine A1 spec, double-clamped on the engine side, no chafe. Drip pans under engines should be clean and not full of oil. Any oily bilge water is a flag — find and fix the leak first.

• Fuel hoses → marine A1 spec, double clamped
• No bilge oil sheen
• Anti-siphon valve on fuel pickup
• Fuel-fill cap grounded (gas)
• Spark arrestors on carburetors (gas)

Hull and deck

Survey will tap the deck looking for delamination (water intrusion = soft spots). Will probe stanchion bases for moisture. Will check chainplate seals for cracks. Any blistering on the bottom will be photographed and quantified. Repairs needed before the policy will be written if blistering is significant.

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