Condition ratings
The only rating 3 is a gutter joint and the internal walls are dry. Why is that still a rating 3 on the gutter, and not a damp diagnosis of the house?
It is still a rating 3 on the gutter joint because that joint needs serious or urgent repair, and the dry internal walls mean it is not a damp diagnosis of the house. Rating 3 is for defects that need repair, replacement or investigation and are serious or urgent, or both. A failed gutter joint can take that grade on the rainwater goods while the rooms stay dry. Dry plaster means the survey has not found damp inside from the joint. It has not diagnosed the house as damp. The rating sits on the gutter.
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?
Rainwater goods are rated as their own element. A joint that has opened or dropped can be rating 3 because it needs repair and the matter is serious or urgent. Dry rooms tell you that result has not been found. They do not move the grade off the gutter and onto the house. Rating 2 would be a defect that needs repair but is not serious or urgent. It used rating 3 for the gutter, not as a diagnosis that the house is damp.
Deal with the gutter joint as the rating 3, and do not describe the house as damp because of it. Ask a guttering contractor to repair the joint the survey rated. Tell the solicitor the internal walls were dry, so this note contains no damp diagnosis of the rooms. RICS uses rating 3 for serious or urgent defects. A dry wall is not rebadged by the gutter's grade. The survey has not added a lifespan to the joint.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the rating 3 confined to the gutter joint?
- Were the internal walls dry, so this is not a damp diagnosis?
- Have you kept the gutter grade off the condition of the rooms?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the rating 3 as the gutter joint, not as damp in the house.
- Have the failed gutter joint repaired as the defect that was rated.
- Do not describe the dry rooms as a damp finding.
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 joint only drips in heavy rain, can it be treated as rating 1?
Not on this report. Rating 1 means no repair is currently needed. The joint was marked rating 3, which means serious or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. Dry internal walls do not lower that grade, and they are not a damp diagnosis of the house. How often it drips does not rewrite the rating given to the gutter.
Do dry walls mean the gutter repair can wait?
The survey has not said the gutter can wait. Rating 3 is serious or urgent. Dry rooms show the house was not diagnosed as damp from this joint. They do not convert the joint into a rating 2, which is for repairs that are not serious or urgent, or into a rating 1. The grade stays on the gutter.