Outbuildings and conservatories
The agent counts an orangery as a reception room. Can the survey adopt that count because the glass roof is double-glazed?
No. Double glazing on the glass roof does not make the orangery a reception room the survey must count. The agent's room count is a selling description. The survey records how the orangery is built and what condition it is in. A second layer of glass changes the glazing, not the status of the space. It does not oblige the surveyor to copy the brochure's tally of reception rooms. If you need a room count, use the plan and the particulars. Use the survey for the frame, the roof and the junctions with 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?
An orangery can be a pleasant room and still be an addition the survey describes on its own terms. Double glazing may matter to heat loss and to condensation. It does not convert a glazed structure into a reception room by a rule the survey has to apply. The surveyor should say what they could see of the frame, the glass, the roof junction and any staining. They should not renumber the house to match the agent's floor-area story.
If the orangery roof leaks, or the frame is soft, that is a condition point whether or not anyone calls it a reception room. Do not argue the rating by insisting on the room name. Ask how the orangery is tied to the house and whether the base, the flashings and the doors were visible. A warm glazed room in the particulars is still a structure that can fail. The survey's job is that structure.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did you actually see of the frame, the glass and the junction with the house?
- Are you rating the orangery as a structure, rather than as a named reception room?
- Did double glazing change any condition comment, or only the specification the agent gave?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the agent's reception-room count out of the condition discussion.
- Use the survey for the orangery's frame, roof and weatherproofing.
- If you need a room total, take it from the plan, not from the glazing.
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 the survey have to repeat the number of reception rooms in the particulars?
No. The survey can describe the orangery without adopting the agent's count. A reception-room label is sales wording. It is not a condition rating and it is not a finding.
If the glass is double glazed, has the orangery passed?
No. Glazing is a material. It does not decide how many reception rooms the report must list, and it does not prove the frame, the flashings or the base are sound.