Non-standard construction
Steel plates of an Airey repair scheme are visible at the corners. What design of that scheme was not in the papers the surveyor was given?
The design of that repair scheme was not among the papers the surveyor was given. Steel plates of an Airey repair are visible at the corners, so the survey can say plates are there and how they looked. It cannot, from the plates alone, name the design, the designer, or whether the scheme was finished as specified. Those facts sit in the papers. They were not in the bundle handed over, and the survey has not invented them.
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 are a precast concrete system, and repair schemes often add steel at the corners or a new structure alongside the original posts. Seeing plates tells you metal is fixed there. It does not tell you which published scheme it is, whether the fixings continue out of sight, or whether a certificate was ever issued. The surveyor can only report the papers they were given. An empty folder is part of the finding. The plates are not a substitute for the design.
Ask the solicitor to search for the repair specification, any structural calculations and any completion letter, and do not let the corner plates stand in for them. A specialist can compare the visible plates with a named scheme only when the papers, or a proper opening, exist. Tell a lender the survey saw plates and was not given the design. The home survey has not reconstructed that design from the metal.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Were the scheme design papers missing from what you were given?
- Did you describe the corner plates without naming a design?
- Have you left the specification with the solicitor rather than inventing it?
What are the typical next steps?
- Record the visible plates, not an unseen design.
- Ask the solicitor to look for the repair specification.
- Do not treat the corner steel as the missing papers.
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 the plates are painted and tight, is the scheme certified?
No. Paint and tightness describe the plates you could see. They are not the design, and they are not a certificate. Those papers were not in the bundle the surveyor was given. Visible steel is not the specification. The design papers were simply not there.
Can the surveyor name the scheme from memory of similar houses?
No. Another house is not this file. The design of this scheme was not in the papers handed over. The survey has not borrowed a name from somewhere else. Memory of a similar repair is not these papers. This file still does not name the scheme.