Leasehold
If scaffold and dust show major works are already underway, does the survey record the consultation stage?
No. The survey can describe the scaffold, the dust and the condition of what is exposed. It cannot tell you whether leaseholders were consulted, which notice was served, or what stage that process has reached. Those questions sit in the papers your solicitor asks for.
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?
On the day of inspection the block may be loud, sheeted and unfinished. That is useful evidence of works in progress. It is not a timeline. GOV.UK’s leasehold guidance explains consultation with leaseholders as part of how some service charges are handled. The surveyor does not hold the notices, the estimates the landlord sent, or the replies. A rating describes condition. It does not say the consultation was done properly, skipped, or still open.
Ask the solicitor for any notice already served and for what the works are supposed to include. Dust on a windowsill does not price your share, and a tidy explanation from the agent on the pavement is not the notice. Keep the survey’s description of what is physically happening next to the legal papers, and do not fold them into a single story. There is no RICS stage number for scaffold.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What works could you see, and what was hidden behind sheeting?
- Are you silent on consultation? You should be.
- Which elements are hard to rate because the works are in the way?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor what notice, if any, has been served.
- Do not treat scaffold as proof that consultation has finished.
- Revisit anything the sheeting stopped the surveyor seeing, if it still matters before you commit.
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 dust inside the flat mean the works have failed?
Not by itself. Dust shows activity. The survey should separate mess from a defect in the flat.
If the scaffold is only on the next block, does this report cover those works?
No. Describe what was in front of this building. Do not import the neighbour’s contract.