Chimneys and parapets
A liner stops in the loft void, short of the pot. Why is the appliance in the room below not signed off by that sighting?
Because the liner stops in the loft void, short of the pot, that sighting does not sign off the appliance in the room below. A liner ending in the roof space is not a flue carried through to a terminal. The survey describes where the liner stops. It does not certify the joint at the appliance or the pot. Those checks belong to a competent installer or gas engineer. Position is what this visit has established. An incomplete liner is not a completed installation.
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 liner in service should run from the appliance to a terminal at the pot, supported so what it carries stays inside it. Ending in the loft means the terminal has not been reached. The surveyor has not smoke-tested the run and has not commissioned the appliance. Seeing the short end tells you the liner is incomplete. It does not tell you the stove below is safely joined. It may not be joined to this liner at all.
Do not use the appliance because a liner is present in the house. Ask a competent installer or gas engineer to trace it from the appliance to the pot and to write what must change before use. The home survey will not become that certificate afterwards. Keep the short liner as an open note until their writing says otherwise. A tidy pot on the stack does not finish a liner that never arrives there.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where does the liner end, and is that end short of the pot?
- Did you see a joint at the appliance, or only the liner stopping in the void?
- Are you signing the appliance off, or describing an incomplete liner?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not use the appliance on the basis of this sighting alone.
- Ask a competent installer or gas engineer to trace the liner through to a terminal.
- Keep the survey note as a description of position, not as a 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
If the pot looks tidy, does a liner that stops short still matter?
Yes. A liner that ends in the loft never reaches that pot. A tidy terminal does not sign off an appliance whose liner stops in the void.
Has the survey tested the appliance or the flue?
No. It records the liner stopping short of the pot. Testing and any sign-off belong to a competent installer or gas engineer.