Condition ratings
A high moisture-meter figure sits in the prose and the ratings table has no damp row. Where is the condition rating?
Not in the table. A high moisture-meter figure sitting in the prose, with no damp row, has not been given a condition rating at all. The figure is a reading. A rating is a numbered judgement on an element. Until the surveyor puts damp on a row, or tells you which existing row carries it, you do not have a damp rating to negotiate with.
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?
The ratings table is where condition ratings are collected. A sentence in the prose that quotes a high meter figure is still prose. It does not become rating 1, 2, 3 or NI by being printed. If there is no damp row, damp has not been rated. You should not invent the row, and you should not pick rating 3 because the figure looks large. Rating 3 is a judgement that an element is serious, urgent, or both. The surveyor has not made that judgement in the table. They may have folded the reading into a wall or floor that already has a number. If so, they need to say which row. Silence is not a rating.
Ask them to reconcile the figure with the table before you rely on either. The what to do now note, including written quotations before legal commitment, applies to elements that are rating 3, not to a reading you have promoted. It advises you. It does not invoice the seller for damp treatment the report never rated. A meter is an aid on the day. It does not prove a mechanism, and it does not see concealed construction. Until the firm answers, do not tell the agent there is a damp rating, and do not tell the lender the house passed on damp either.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which table row, if any, is this meter figure attached to?
- If there is no damp row, is damp unrated on purpose?
- Will you confirm in writing whether this figure is a condition rating?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not treat the prose figure as a condition rating.
- Ask the surveyor to tie it to a row, or to say there is no rating.
- Do not negotiate a damp rating that the table does not contain.
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 wall row is rating 1, does the figure upgrade it?
Not by itself. Ask whether the rating 1 already took the figure into account. Do not upgrade it in the margin.
Can they add a damp row after the report is issued?
They can clarify or correct their own report. You cannot add the row for them.