Age and type of house
Is a concrete porch canopy a reason to call the whole house non-standard?
No. A canopy is a projection over the door, and cracks, staining or a gap at the wall are comments on the canopy and that junction, not a name for the house walls and not a system-built label. The survey should describe the canopy it could see and leave the walls as whatever it could see of the walls.
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?
Post-war houses often have a small concrete hood. It can be reinforced, it can stain where the steel is close to the face, and it can drop a crack into the reveal. Those are local defects. A home survey does not test the steel and does not calculate the canopy. If the report only says the hood is cracked, do not rewrite that as a defective house system.
Ask whether water runs back to the wall because the top of the canopy slopes the wrong way. That is a weather detail, still not a name for the gables. If the walls are cavity brick, no-fines, timber or something the survey could not tell, that belongs in the wall paragraph with the evidence for it. Do not let one concrete projection do that work.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did you see on the canopy: cracks, stains, or a gap at the wall?
- Are you describing the canopy only, or the wall construction as well?
- Did you see how water sheds off the top?
What are the typical next steps?
- Price the canopy, if it needs work, as a canopy.
- Do not relabel the house from the porch.
- If the steel in the canopy is the worry, ask an engineer about that slab, not about a guessed system.
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 cracked canopy mean the lintel over the door has failed?
Not by itself. The canopy and the lintel can be different members. Ask which one was seen.
Is the canopy a balcony?
No. A hood over a door is not a place to stand. Do not inspect it by climbing on it.