Condition ratings
The report describes a bulge in one brick panel. Why is that a different rating conversation from a hairline crack nearby?
Not the same conversation. A bulge in one brick panel means that panel has left the line it was built on, which a hairline crack nearby has not done. The hairline may be a surface note. The bulge is a change of shape. Those observations can carry different ratings even on one wall. Read the paragraph that describes the bulge, and do not file it under the hairline.
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?
A hairline is a fine crack, often in mortar or in a coat, and it can sit at rating 1 if no repair is currently needed, or at rating 2 if a repair is needed but is not serious or urgent. A bulge is the panel departing from the flat line it was built to. That change of shape is a different observation, and where the surveyor calls it serious or urgent it is rating 3. Rating 3 is the point at which you get written quotations before legal commitment. You do not downgrade the bulge because a hairline happens to be nearby, and you do not upgrade the hairline because the bulge is in the same photograph.
The paragraph should say how the bulge was seen, over what height, and what was not opened. Ties, a spreading roof, or a floor bearing can be mentioned as possible context, but the rating still belongs to the panel that was described, not to every crack on the wall. The what to do now note advises you. It does not invoice the seller, and it does not design the restraint. Concealed ties in an unopened cavity are not guaranteed sound, and they are not rated 1 by silence. Ask the surveyor which defect is rating 3, if either is, and take quotes for that panel rather than for a hairline repoint.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What rating did you give the bulging panel, as against the hairline?
- Over what area does the bulge leave the original line?
- Is anything inside the wall NI because it was not opened?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the bulge and the hairline as separate notes.
- If the bulge is rating 3, get written quotations before you commit.
- Do not brief a builder to repoint a hairline and call the bulge done.
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
Can a bulge be rating 2?
Yes, if the surveyor judges it is not serious or urgent. Do not force rating 3 because the word bulge sounds severe.
Does one bulging panel rate the whole elevation?
Not unless the report says the distortion runs across that face. Read the extent they described.