Condition ratings

A damp report dated 2014 is in the drawer. Does it answer a further-investigation line written this month?

It answers 2014, not this month. A damp report from that year describes what that firm found then, under the brief they had then. A further-investigation line written in this month's home survey is a new request about the building as it is now. The drawer copy does not close it, however thorough it looked at the time.

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?

Buildings change. Leaks are repaired, new leaks start, plaster is replaced, ground levels alter, and a tank that was sound in 2014 may not be the tank that is staining the wall now. The current surveyor has seen the house this month and has said the damp question needs investigation. They were not certifying the old report, and they were not saying the old findings still hold. Meter readings and comments in your survey are this inspection. They are visual, not a completed damp diagnosis, and not a safety test of any service.

You may still give the 2014 paper to the new specialist as history, clearly dated, so they can see what was claimed before. Ask them to answer the current sentence in a new written report. Do not tip the old PDF to the solicitor as if it were that answer. If the current element is rating 3, you still want written quotations before a legal commitment, based on what is being asked now rather than on a decade-old price. There is no rule in the survey that a damp report expires after a fixed number of days. The point is simpler: this month's line has not been investigated by a report that predates it.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Does your further-investigation line rely on anything in a 2014 damp report?
What would a new specialist need to answer that a 2014 paper cannot?
May I pass the old report as history only, if it is clearly dated?

What are the typical next steps?

Date-stamp the 2014 report as history.
Commission a new written investigation against this month's sentence.
Do not file the old PDF as the answer to the current line.

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 old report said the wall was dry, can you ignore this month's line?

No. Dry in 2014 is not an investigation of what the surveyor has just seen.

If the new specialist agrees with 2014, has the old report answered the line?

No. Their new written agreement would be the answer. The old report would only be the history they considered.