Condition ratings
A wall is recorded as not inspected because furniture was against it. What must you not fill in as a rating 1?
You must not fill in condition rating 1. The wall is NI, not inspected, because furniture was against it, and NI is not a pass. Rating 1 means no repair is currently needed, which can be said only of something that was inspected and found not to need repair. This wall was hidden. Writing a 1 would invent a result the survey refused to give. The furniture is the reason for the limit. It is not evidence the wall is sound.
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?
Surveyors mark NI when they could not see the element, not when they saw it and relaxed. A sofa, a fitted cupboard or a stack of boxes can cover damp, a crack or a patch of blown plaster. The covered part was not inspected. The rest of the room, if it was seen, keeps its own ratings. You do not average a hidden wall up to a 1 because the ceiling was fine. The definition is blunt on purpose: not inspected is not a pass.
If that wall matters, ask the seller to pull the furniture off and agree a return visit or a note from someone who can see it. Tell your solicitor the wall is NI so nobody in the chain types a 1 into a summary. Do not move the furniture yourself if it is not yours, and do not guess. The home survey has left a gap. Filling the gap with the best rating is the mistake the NI mark exists to stop.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which part of the wall was hidden by furniture, and which part could you see?
- Is that hidden part recorded as NI rather than as any numbered rating?
- What would have to be moved before you could rate it?
What are the typical next steps?
- Leave the hidden wall as NI.
- Do not write rating 1 over a wall that was not inspected.
- Ask for the furniture to be moved if you need that wall seen.
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 visible edge of the wall looks fine, can the hidden part be a 1?
No. The visible edge can be described. The hidden part was not inspected. Rating 1 means no repair is currently needed, and that cannot be said of a wall the furniture covered. NI is not a pass. The covered portion stays not inspected until the furniture is moved.
Does NI mean the surveyor thinks it is probably fine?
No. NI means not inspected. It does not lean towards fine or towards failed. It is the absence of an inspection. You must not promote it to rating 1 because the rest of the room was acceptable. A tidy neighbouring wall does not inspect the one the furniture hid.