Electrics and gas
Defrost water from the outdoor unit is dripping off the condensate tray onto the path. Is that a leak from the heating circuit?
No. On this visit, dripping off the condensate tray is not a leak from the heating circuit. Defrost water is moisture the outdoor unit sheds when it clears ice, and it is meant to leave by that tray. Seeing it miss the tray and wet the path shows a disposal fault in the condensate route. It does not show that heating water is escaping. The survey did not pressure-test the circuit and did not decide efficiency. Treat the drip as tray overflow until a heat-pump engineer says the sealed circuit itself is losing fluid.
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?
Air-source units ice up and then defrost. The water from that cycle should be caught and led away, often to a drain, not left to pool on a path where it can freeze again. A tray that overflows is a real defect of that arrangement. It is a different defect from a weeping joint on the heating flow. The survey can see the drip and where it lands. It cannot from that puddle identify the fluid, and it has not taken the covers off to inspect the circuit.
Ask a heat-pump engineer to confirm the condensate route and to check the circuit if you need both questions closed. Tell the solicitor the survey's finding is tray overflow, not a proved circuit leak. The survey does not decide grant eligibility and has not issued a building-regulations certificate. Do not tell a lender the heating fluid is escaping. If the path ices over, that is a consequence of the overflow. It is still not, by itself, a diagnosis of the sealed system.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the drip recorded as condensate missing the tray?
- Was the heating circuit pressure-tested?
- Has efficiency of the outdoor unit been measured?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the drip as tray overflow, not as a proved circuit leak.
- Ask an engineer to check the condensate route.
- Do not tell a lender the heating fluid is escaping.
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
Could the same puddle still be heating water?
It could, which is why the survey has not given the circuit a clean bill. What it saw was water leaving the condensate tray onto the path. That appearance fits defrost water overflowing. It does not prove the sealed circuit is intact, and it does not prove the opposite. An engineer can tell the fluids apart. This visit did not.
Does a grant letter prove the tray was installed correctly?
No. A grant letter, if one is even in the pack, is not a condition report on the tray. The survey has not decided eligibility for any scheme and has not quoted a grant. The drip is a condition note from the visit. Papers about funding do not show where this water is supposed to go, and they do not repair the overflow.