Age and type of house
What should a survey say about a bungalow that already has rooms in the roof?
It should describe the rooms that are there: the headroom it could judge, the purlins, any cut timbers, and the roof windows. Those rooms are part of the inspection, not a sentence you were supposed to tell the firm before they quoted. The survey does not certify the rooms under the building regulations. It records what it could see.
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 formed roof room hides the parts a bungalow survey would otherwise see in an open void. Plasterboard can cover a purlin, a cut rafter or a collar. Headroom is what the surveyor could stand in, and they should say if they did not measure it. A low spot over the stair is not the same as a purlin that has been notched. Ask which of those they mean.
Papers for the alteration, if it was a later alteration, go to your solicitor. The survey will not fail the house for a missing certificate, and it will not pass the structure because a bedroom looks finished. If timbers were not visible, the report should say so. Do not read a furnished loft room as proof the roof frame is intact.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which purlins and rafters could you see, and which are covered?
- Did you measure headroom, or only note that it felt low?
- Are any timbers cut, or could you not tell?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the roof structure paragraph, not only the room names.
- Send any missing approval papers to the solicitor separately from the condition notes.
- Do not treat a made bed as evidence the purlins are intact.
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
Is this the same as warning the firm before they quote?
No. The rooms already exist. The question is what the inspection could see inside them.
Does a roof window mean the conversion was approved?
No. A window is something the survey can see. Approval is a paper the solicitor asks for.