Non-standard construction
The bungalow is described as a Hawksley aluminium system. Why is a modern plastic cladding over it not a change of construction the survey can certify?
Because plastic cladding is a covering, not a new structure, and the survey cannot certify that a Hawksley aluminium system has stopped being one. The bungalow was described as that aluminium system. A modern plastic skin may hide the original sheeting and improve the look. It does not, by itself, prove the frame has been replaced or that the construction is now conventional. The survey saw a cladding. It did not open it, and it has not issued a certificate that the system has changed.
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?
Hawksley bungalows were built as aluminium-framed units with aluminium sheet walls. Later owners often add a plastic or other outer skin. That skin is fixed over the system. It is not a laboratory result and not a completion certificate for a rebuilt bungalow. The surveyor can note the cladding, the joints and any distortion that shows through. They cannot see the aluminium the plastic covers, and they should not rename the house from the finish alone.
Ask the seller, through your solicitor, for any papers that actually describe structural work rather than a cladding job. If a lender wants the construction named, give them the survey's words, including the Hawksley label and the fact the frame was not opened. Do not ask the firm to certify a change of construction it could not inspect. A specialist look, if you need the aluminium seen, is a different instruction.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did you see of the aluminium, and what was covered only by plastic?
- Are you describing a cladding, or stating that the frame has been replaced?
- Which papers, if any, were you shown for work behind that plastic?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the Hawksley name unless papers show a real change of structure.
- Do not treat plastic cladding as a certificate the survey can sign.
- Tell the lender the frame under the cladding was not opened.
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 plastic is new and even, is the bungalow now standard construction?
No. Even plastic describes the new face. The bungalow was named as a Hawksley aluminium system, and that frame was not proved to have gone. A tidy cladding is not a change of construction. Hawksley aluminium is still the system named under that plastic.
Can the surveyor tap the plastic and certify the aluminium behind it?
No. Tapping a cladding, if it was done, is not an inspection of the frame and not a certificate. The survey has not opened the plastic and has not certified a different construction. Sound from the face is not a certificate that the frame changed.