Condition ratings
The boiler line carries the document mark R rather than a condition rating. What sort of papers is R pointing at, and who asks for them?
R is pointing at papers, not at a condition of the boiler. The boiler line carries the document mark R rather than a condition rating. RICS uses R for documents the buyer may be asked to request before signing contracts: for a boiler, that sort of paper is a service record, a warranty, an installation certificate, or a building-regulations approval. The mark is not rating 1, not rating 2, and not rating 3. It does not say the boiler is sound, and it does not say it has failed. The surveyor does not collect the papers. The solicitor asks for them.
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 condition rating is a judgement on an element that was inspected. R sits in a different column. It can appear beside a boiler that also has a rating, or beside a line where the survey is telling you the important unknown is documentary. Either way, R itself is not a fourth colour on the traffic light. The home survey did not service the boiler and did not carry out a gas-safety inspection. Seeing the appliance and printing R is not that inspection.
Read the boiler paragraph for the exact papers R is pointing at, and ask the solicitor to request those papers from the seller. Do not invent a service history the mark does not name. If the condition of the appliance is a separate worry, that is an engineer’s inspection, not a second guess at R. Keep the document mark off the rating scale. The survey has asked for papers. It has not tested the boiler by printing R.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which papers is the R beside the boiler actually asking for?
- Is R printed instead of a condition rating, or as well as one?
- Did you leave gas safety and servicing to those papers and to others?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read R as a request for papers, not as a boiler rating.
- Ask the solicitor to obtain the documents the report names.
- Instruct a heating engineer if you need a test the survey did not do.
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 seller has a landlord gas record, is R satisfied?
Only if that record is the paper R is pointing at, and only once the solicitor has it. The survey did not collect it and did not grade it. A gas record is not a condition rating, and R is not rating 1, which would mean no repair currently needed. Match the document to the words beside the boiler.
Can you pencil in rating 2 until the papers arrive?
No. Rating 2 means defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent, and it is not yours to invent while you wait. R is the document mark. NI would mean not inspected, not a pass, if that were the mark printed. It is not. Leave the boiler line as it was printed and chase the papers.