Condition ratings
The garage is NI because it was locked. Why is an absent rating not a statement that the garage is sound?
An absent rating is not a statement that the locked garage is sound. NI means not inspected, not a pass, and no condition rating was given because the door stayed locked. Rating 1 means no repair currently needed. Rating 2 means defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent. Rating 3 means serious and/or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. None of those was applied to the garage. The blank is the lock. It is not a clean result you can borrow from the house.
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 locked outbuilding is outside the inspection even when the house itself was walked in detail. The surveyor cannot rate cracks, the roof, damp or the slab without getting in. Leaving the line without a rating is how the report refuses to invent that look. Readers sometimes treat silence as satisfaction. Silence here is access. Until the garage is opened, there is no condition rating to quote, and there is no hidden rating 1 waiting behind the letters NI.
Tell your solicitor the garage is NI and that the report does not say it is sound. If you need a condition view, arrange for the lock to be opened and for that part to be inspected. Do not tell a lender the outbuilding was acceptable. Rating 1 was not used. A seller's comment that the garage is fine does not convert NI into a pass. The letters stay until an inspection of the garage actually happens.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Why was the garage marked NI rather than given a rating?
- Does the lock mean no condition result exists for it?
- Has rating 1 been kept off the garage?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read NI on the garage as not inspected, not as sound.
- Tell the solicitor the outbuilding has no condition rating.
- Arrange access if you need the garage inspected.
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
What would replace NI on a later visit?
A later inspection, once the garage is unlocked, can give a condition rating based on what is then seen. Rating 1, rating 2 or rating 3 would mean what those RICS definitions say, and only after that look. NI would no longer be the right mark for parts that were actually inspected. This report has not taken that step.
Does a tidy garage door from the drive count as the inspection?
No. The outside of a door, if it was seen, is not the inside of a locked garage. NI means not inspected, not a pass. Paint on the door does not describe the roof, the floor or the walls within. Leave the interior unrated until someone goes inside.