Condition ratings
The report lists clearing gutters under normal maintenance. Has that line turned the gutters into a rating 3?
No. Listing clearing gutters under normal maintenance has not turned the gutters into a rating 3. Rating 3 means serious and/or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. Normal maintenance is upkeep a buyer should expect, and writing it down does not change that into rating 3. Rating 2 would mean defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent. Rating 1 means no repair is currently needed. Read the rating beside the element if you need the grade. The chore list is not an upgrade.
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?
Gutters fill with leaves and need clearing. A maintenance paragraph is how the report tells you about that ordinary work. If the gutters were also leaking, broken or pulling off the wall, the element rating would say so in the condition section. Do not copy the urgency of a rating 3 chimney onto a gutter sentence that the report has filed under maintenance. NI would mean not inspected, not a pass. A maintenance line is not NI and not rating 3 unless the report actually rates it that way.
Do the clearing as upkeep, and ask the surveyor only if the gutter element is separately rated and you cannot see which grade applies. Tell a lender the gutter sentence is normal maintenance unless the condition rating says otherwise. Do not obtain an urgent specialist for a task the report has already classed as ordinary. If a rating 3 sits on a different line, follow that line. Leave the maintenance sentence in its own box so negotiation does not treat leaf clearing as a structural repair.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Has the maintenance line changed the gutters into a rating 3?
- What does rating 3 require that ordinary gutter clearing does not?
- Where should you look for the actual grade of the gutters?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read gutter clearing as maintenance unless a rating says otherwise.
- Do not import rating 3 from another element onto that line.
- Clear the gutters as upkeep rather than as an urgent structural job.
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
What does rating 1 mean if the gutters had been given that grade?
Rating 1 means no repair is currently needed. If the gutters carried rating 1, the report would be saying they do not currently need repair. A maintenance note about clearing leaves can still sit beside that, because clearing is upkeep, not a repair grade. The question's line has not created rating 3. Do not add a lifespan the rating does not state.
Is normal maintenance the same thing as urgent repair?
No. Normal maintenance is expected upkeep, such as clearing gutters. Rating 3 is serious and/or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. The report put gutter clearing in the maintenance list, so it has not called that task rating 3. Rating 2, where it is used, is for defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent. This line is not that either.