Non-standard construction
The seller names a Cornish repair scheme and no completion certificate is in the pack. What work has the name not verified?
The name has not verified that a Cornish repair was carried out, finished, or certified on this house. The seller names a scheme, and no completion certificate is in the pack. A name is not the work. The survey has recorded what was said and the missing certificate. It has not inspected repaired concrete as certified work, has not matched this house to a scheme register, and has not decided that the frame was rebuilt. Cornish construction is a particular non-standard type. Naming a repair scheme does not put that repair into the report as a fact.
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?
Designated repairs were developed for some Cornish concrete houses. A finished repair would ordinarily leave a certificate, a guarantee, or a specification that names the address. None of that certificate is in the pack. The seller's name for the scheme might be accurate, partial, or hopeful. The survey cannot tell which from the name alone. It can describe what is visible outside. It cannot see a certificate that was never provided, and it will not invent one to fill the pack.
Ask the solicitor for the completion certificate and any guarantee the name is pointing at, and ask them to check that the papers refer to this house. Until they arrive, the work stays unverified. The home survey has not certified a concrete repair and has not become the scheme provider. Do not tell a lender the Cornish repair is complete because a name was spoken. The missing certificate is the gap. The survey has not filled it with the seller's wording.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which scheme did the seller name, and was the certificate missing?
- What visible concrete did you note without calling it a completed repair?
- Have you left the named work unverified?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the scheme name as unverified.
- Ask the solicitor for the completion certificate for this house.
- Do not describe the Cornish repair as complete.
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 walls look recently coated, was the scheme finished?
A new coating shows a surface treatment. It does not show that a named Cornish repair was completed, and no certificate is in the pack. The survey has not verified the structural work the name implies. A coat can be applied whether or not a scheme was finished. The coating is not the missing certificate.
Can the survey sign the repair off from the elevations it saw?
No. Seeing the elevations does not complete a scheme and does not replace a certificate that is not in the pack. The survey has not signed a Cornish repair off. A scheme provider's certificate, if it exists, is a different document. This report has not issued one.