Condition ratings
A concrete window sill is cracked. Does that number replace the rating of the wall around the opening?
No. A cracked concrete window sill keeps its own line and does not replace the rating of the wall around the opening. The sill is the projecting piece under the frame. The wall is the masonry or render beside and below it. A crack in the concrete can be local. Unless the report says the crack continues into the wall, leave the wall's number where it is.
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 concrete sill is a casting under the window. A crack in it can let water towards the frame or the wall head beneath, so it is a real item, but it is the sill. Rating 2 fits a repair that is needed but is not serious or urgent, such as a sill that should be repaired or replaced without being an urgent structural matter. Rating 3 fits a sill the surveyor calls serious or urgent, and that is when you get written quotations before legal commitment. Rating 1 would mean no repair is currently needed, which a cracked sill usually is not. None of those choices overwrites the wall rating unless the paragraph says the crack runs on into the masonry or the render.
Window frames, sealant and the opening are further neighbours, and they too can be rated apart from the concrete. The what to do now note advises you. It does not invoice the seller for a new wall because a sill is cracked. Reinforcement inside an old concrete sill is concealed and is not guaranteed sound, so the rating is about the crack that was seen, not a test of the steel. Ask the surveyor whether the crack stops in the sill. If it does, take any quote for the sill, and leave the wall's number on the wall.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does the crack stop in the concrete sill?
- What rating did the wall around this opening get?
- Is the sill serious or urgent, or a repair that is not?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the sill rating off the wall unless the crack continues.
- Ask a contractor about the sill the report describes.
- Do not tell the seller the elevation failed because of one sill.
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 several sills are cracked, does the wall become rating 3?
Not by count. Several sills can each need repair. The wall changes rating only if the report rates the wall.
Does a timber sill follow this split?
Yes. A timber sill is also the sill, not the wall. Read its own sentence.