Subsidence, settlement and heave
The mining search refers to a shaft recorded in the area and the surveyor saw no cap in the garden. What has the inspection not done to clear that record?
The inspection has not cleared that record at all. The mining search refers to a shaft recorded in the area, and the surveyor saw no cap in the garden. Not seeing a cap is a limit of what was visible on the lawn. It is not a search of the records, not a probe of the ground, and not a statement that the shaft entry is wrong. A Coal Authority search is a separate product from the home survey. The home survey has not replaced it and has not cancelled the line the search already contains.
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?
Shafts recorded in an area are not always marked by a cap you can find between the flower beds. Records can sit on old workings, a neighbouring plot, or a position the garden no longer shows. The surveyor can say the surface they walked had no cap in view. They cannot move the record by that sentence. Clearing it, or locating it properly, belongs to the mining search and, if needed, to a specialist who interprets it. The home survey does not do that interpretation by looking at grass.
Give the mining search to the solicitor and, if the shaft entry concerns you, ask a mining specialist what the record means for this plot. Keep the survey sentence as no cap seen, not as a clearance. Do not tell the lender the shaft has been dismissed because the lawn looked ordinary. The Coal Authority product and the home survey remain different documents, and only one of them holds the record.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did the mining search actually say about a shaft, and where?
- Did you see a cap in the garden, or only record that none was visible?
- Has the inspection cleared the record, or left it with the search?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not treat no cap in the garden as a clearance of the shaft record.
- Give the mining search to the solicitor as a separate product.
- Ask a mining specialist if you need the record interpreted for this plot.
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 lawn is level, has the shaft been filled?
The survey cannot say. A level lawn is not a cap, and no cap was seen. The mining search still refers to a shaft recorded in the area. The inspection has not probed the ground and has not cleared that record. The mining search remains its own product beside this visit. Level grass does not edit it.
Can the surveyor delete the shaft line from the search?
No. The search is its own product, and the home survey does not rewrite it. The inspection saw no cap in the garden and stopped there. It has not cleared the record and it has not confirmed a position. Send the search on as it stands. The survey sentence is only what was visible at the surface.