Condition ratings

Several elements are NI and the roof covering is the only rating 3. Is the whole survey incomplete?

No. Several elements marked NI, with the roof covering as the only rating 3, do not make the whole survey incomplete. NI means those elements were not inspected. The roof covering was inspected enough to be rated, and that rating stands on its own. What you must not do is read the blank lines as passes. The report is unfinished only for the parts that were not seen.

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 survey can rate one element and leave others NI without the rated element being cancelled. NI means not inspected. It is not rating 1, and it is not a quiet pass. The roof covering at rating 3 has been judged serious, urgent, or both. That judgement stands, and the what to do now note tells you to get written quotations before legal commitment for that covering. It advises you. It does not invoice the seller, and it does not say the blanks are also rating 3. Nor does a stack of NI lines mean the firm failed to survey. It means those parts were not available: a locked room, a cover left on, a cistern not reached.

Treat the document as complete for what was seen and silent for what was not. Do not average NI with rating 3 into a score, and do not throw the roof finding away because other lines are blank. Concealed parts inside a rated element are still not guaranteed sound, so the roof rating is not a promise about every batten. For the NI lines, decide which ones you need answered before you commit, and ask for access or a further look. Leave the others as limits. The roof quotations are the action the rating 3 already justifies.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which elements are NI, and which single element is rating 3?
Are you treating any NI line as rating 1? You should not.
Does the roof rating stand even though other lines are blank?

What are the typical next steps?

Get written quotations for the roof covering before you commit.
Do not read NI lines as passes.
Ask for a further look only on the blanks that change your decision.

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 most of the report is NI, is the roof rating unreliable?

Not because of the other blanks. The roof rating is about the roof. Judge it on the roof paragraph.

Can I ignore the roof 3 until every NI is cleared?

No. The roof finding is already made. Clearing a blank elsewhere does not pause it.