Non-standard construction
Do crumbling block, together with a south-west bungalow, count as evidence on a class letter crumbling is not, or only as a note of what was visible?
Crumbling block on a south-west bungalow is a note of what was visible, not evidence for a class letter. Crumbling is not a Class A, B or C result, and a home survey does not award those letters. The visit did not drill cores and did not test the concrete. RICS guidance on the mundic problem is for surveyors in the south west. Cornwall Council describes a core test and does not provide it. What the survey has decided is only that the surface looked broken. What it has not decided is the concrete type or any class.
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 broken face on a block can come from weathering, poor cover, movement or from concrete that a specialist later wants tested. The eye cannot sort those causes, and the surveyor is not asked to guess a class from crumbs on a bungalow wall. The note records the place, the material as it appeared and the limit of a visual visit. It does not describe the inside of the block. Class letters belong to a separate testing process, not to this report.
Ask the solicitor what the seller knows about the walls and whether a core test has already been commissioned. Cornwall Council describes that test and says the council does not provide it, so the papers should name who would instruct it. A lender may want that separate evidence. The home survey will not drill the wall or attach a class letter to the bungalow. Keep the visual note and any later test as two different documents.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where on the bungalow was the crumbling block actually seen?
- Did the report stay visual, with no core and no class letter?
- What wording shows this is a limit of inspection rather than a class result?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the wall note as a visual record only.
- Ask the solicitor whether any core test already exists.
- Keep any later test separate from this home survey.
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 every concrete bungalow in the south west need a core test?
No. The guidance does not say every concrete house must be tested. RICS guidance on the mundic problem is for surveyors in the south west, and it is about when a surveyor should consider the issue. This visit only recorded crumbling that was visible. A core test is a separate instruction, and Cornwall Council does not provide it.
Can the seller's builder award a class from the same visit?
A builder walking the same walls still has not carried out the core test Cornwall Council describes. A home survey does not drill cores or award Class A, B or C, and neither does a casual look at crumbs. Any class would have to come from that separate test, reported on its own, not from this note of what was visible.