Chimneys and parapets
The hearth is smaller than the stove standing on it. Does the survey certify that installation, or only record the mismatch it could see?
Only the mismatch the surveyor could see is on record: the hearth is smaller than the stove standing on it. That sentence does not certify the installation. Hearth size, distance to combustible material and the joint to a flue are checks for a competent installer or gas engineer. A visual survey can compare the slab it saw with the appliance on it. It cannot sign the stove off, and it does not design a new hearth. Clearances the eye did not measure are not a specification this visit has written.
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?
An undersized hearth is a condition in the note, not a pass mark. The surveyor is not running a commissioning list and is not deciding whether the installation meets building regulations. The useful fact is the comparison: the stove crowds the slab that was there on the day. What is hidden behind the stove, under the floor finish or in the flue joint was not opened up. The mismatch is what could be seen, and nothing more than that.
Before anyone lights the stove, ask a competent installer or gas engineer to measure the hearth against the appliance and to write what, if anything, must change. Keep that note apart from the survey. The report recorded the mismatch in view. It is not an installation certificate. A decorative tile on the slab is not, by itself, the hearth they may specify once they have measured.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- In what way is the hearth smaller than the stove: at the front, the sides, or both?
- Did you see a constructional hearth, or only the finished surface the stove stands on?
- Are you recording the mismatch, rather than certifying the stove?
What are the typical next steps?
- Photograph the stove against the hearth from the front and from the side.
- Ask a competent installer or gas engineer to measure the hearth and write what must change.
- Do not read the survey sentence as an installation certificate.
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
Does a smaller hearth fail the rest of the house?
No. The note is the mismatch between this hearth and this stove. It does not rate the building, and it does not certify the installation.
Can the surveyor specify the replacement hearth?
No. Specifying a hearth belongs to a competent installer or gas engineer. The survey only records that the present hearth is smaller than the stove.