Subsidence, settlement and heave
A bulge is described and no plumb figures are in the report. What measurement is missing?
The missing measurement is a plumb reading, or another measured offset, showing how far the wall stands out of vertical. A bulge is described, and no plumb figures are in the report, so the shape has been seen but not sized. Without a figure you cannot compare the bulge later or say how large it is. The survey records the distortion it could see. It has not quantified it and has not, from numbers it does not have, diagnosed the cause.
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?
Plumb is a check of verticality, taken so the departure from a straight line is a dimension rather than a word. “Bulge” covers anything from a gentle bow to a serious lean, and those are not the same repair. The visit described the place and the direction and stopped before a measured survey of the wall. Guessing a size from a photograph would invent the figure the report deliberately does not contain. Cause, whether ties, movement or original build, stays open without that measurement and without opening the wall.
If a lender or an engineer asks how far the wall is out, the honest answer is that this report does not say. Ask the solicitor not to fill a form with a guessed offset. A further visit can take plumb figures and write them down. Do not invent a legal limit in small units for how far a wall may bow. The home survey has identified the missing measurement. It has not supplied it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where is the bulge described, and on which wall?
- What plumb or offset figure is absent?
- Does the report name a cause despite having no measurement?
What are the typical next steps?
- State that the bulge is unquantified.
- Do not invent an offset for a lender’s form.
- Arrange a measured plumb check if a figure is required.
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
Does a photograph of the bulge replace the plumb figures?
No. A photograph shows the shape. It does not give the offset the report is missing. Plumb figures are a measurement of how far the wall is out of vertical, and none are in the report. You cannot scale a reliable dimension off a casual picture. The bulge stays described and unmeasured until someone takes the reading.
Is the missing measurement a ground investigation?
No. The measurement missing from this note is plumb, or a measured offset of the bulge. A ground investigation would be a different exercise, and the report has not claimed to have done one. The wall’s departure from vertical is what was not sized. Cause and ground conditions remain separate, and also undecided.