Non-standard construction
Laing Easiform is named and the walls are solid concrete. Why is a cavity-tie survey the wrong extra report?
A cavity-tie survey is the wrong extra report because these walls are solid concrete, so there is no cavity in which wall ties are doing that job. Laing Easiform is named, and the survey has described solid concrete. Ties belong to cavity walls, typically two leaves held together. Ordering a tie report copies a specification from a different house. The home survey has not found a cavity, and it has not tested any ties, because that is not the wall in front of it.
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?
Solid Easiform concrete is cast as the wall itself. People reach for a cavity-tie survey because other non-standard houses, and ordinary cavity brick, sometimes need one. The name of the extra report has to follow the wall. Here it does not. Cracks, render and damp can still be real and can still be written up against the concrete. They do not become tie failure by being sent to the wrong trade. The survey should not be leaned on to invent a leaf it did not see.
If you want a further report, ask what question it is meant to answer about solid concrete, and reject a quote that assumes ties in a cavity. Tell your solicitor the construction in the survey's words. A lender should hear solid Easiform, not a tie narrative. No tie test has been carried out. Do not pay for one in order to look busy after a report that has already named the wall.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see a cavity anywhere, or only solid concrete?
- Why would a wall-tie report not match the Easiform wall you named?
- Are cracks, if any, recorded against the concrete rather than against ties?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not instruct a cavity-tie survey for this solid wall.
- Keep the Laing Easiform solid-concrete description as written.
- Ask any specialist to address the concrete, not a cavity that was not found.
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
Are there Easiform houses with cavities, so is the tie report still wise?
Other variants exist, but this report names solid concrete. A tie survey looks for ties in a cavity. That is the wrong extra report for the wall that was described, and no cavity was found to justify it. The extra report still has to match this solid wall.
If the render is cracked, have the ties failed?
No. Cracked render on solid concrete is a render and concrete observation. There is no cavity tie for that crack to condemn. The survey has not carried out a tie test and should not be read as one. There is still no tie test on this solid concrete.