Non-standard construction
Steel plates are bolted to one Airey column and the neighbouring columns have no plates. What repair of the unplated columns was not documented?
No repair of the unplated columns was documented. Steel plates bolted to one Airey column record a repair, or at least a plating, at that column only. The neighbouring columns have no plates, and the survey has no papers showing they were repaired another way, repaired earlier, or judged not to need the same work. Missing plates are not a repair record. The survey has seen plates on one column. It has not documented a repair of the columns that were left unplated.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Airey houses use precast concrete columns, and a common repair is to bolt steel plates to those columns or to overclad them. Plates on a single column show that someone worked on that column. They do not show a scheme for the row. A neighbour without plates may never have been opened, or may have been repaired by a method that left no plate. The survey cannot tell those apart from the absence of steel. Absence is not a certificate, and it is not a file note of works.
Ask the solicitor for any repair scheme, guarantee or engineer's report that lists which columns were plated and which were not. Do not assume the unplated columns were included in the job you can see on one column. The survey has not seen such a document, and it has not inspected the concrete of the unplated columns as if they had been opened. If the scheme is missing, the repair of those columns stays undocumented.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which Airey column has steel plates, and what of the plates did you see?
- Which neighbouring columns have no plates, and were those columns opened?
- Did any paper on site document a repair of the unplated columns?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the plates as a repair record for the plated column only.
- Ask the solicitor for any scheme that lists the other columns.
- Do not read a missing plate as a documented repair or as a clearance.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If one column is plated, have the neighbours had the same repair?
The survey cannot say they have. It saw plates on one column and none on the neighbours. Same repair, different repair, or no repair are all undocumented for the unplated columns. You would need the scheme papers, not the bare elevation, to know which.
Does a missing plate mean that column was never in need of repair?
No. A missing plate means no plate was seen. It does not mean the column was assessed and left alone, and it does not mean it was repaired by another method. The survey did not document a repair of the unplated columns. Need and completion are both still open.