Non-standard construction
An Orlit house has a concrete beam over one window that is spalling and the other openings look sound. What reinforcement inside the sound-looking beams was not exposed?
The reinforcement inside the sound-looking beams was not exposed. On this Orlit house the survey has seen a concrete beam over one window that is spalling. The other openings look sound, which means their faces do not show the same break-up. A fair face does not open the beam, and it does not show the steel inside. The survey has recorded spalling at one opening and sound-looking beams at the others. It has not exposed the reinforcement in those sound-looking beams, so their steel remains unseen.
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?
Orlit houses use precast concrete beams over openings, and spalling is the concrete breaking away, sometimes where reinforcement has expanded. That can be seen only where the surface has already failed. A beam that still looks whole may hide the same process, or it may not. The survey has no way to choose, because it did not cut those beams open. Looking sound is a surface comment. It is not an inspection of the bars.
Tell the solicitor which opening is spalling and which only look sound. A concrete specialist can advise whether any sound-looking beam should be opened, as a separate instruction. Do not ask the survey to state a bar diameter or a loss of steel it did not expose. The report has not cleared the other beams, and it has not specified repairs to them. Surface appearance and reinforcement are different facts.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which window beam is spalling, and what of the concrete has broken away?
- Which other beams only look sound, and did you expose any reinforcement in them?
- Have you left the steel inside those sound-looking beams uninspected?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the spalling note on the one beam where concrete has broken away.
- Do not treat a sound-looking face as exposed reinforcement.
- Ask a concrete specialist before anyone opens the other beams.
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 a beam looks whole, has its steel been seen?
No. A whole face is still a face. The reinforcement inside the sound-looking beams was not exposed, so the survey has not seen that steel. Looking sound records the surface only. It does not describe the bars, and it does not say they are free of the process seen where the other beam is spalling.
Does the spalling beam measure the steel in the beams that look sound?
No. Spalling shows concrete breaking away at that one opening. It does not measure bar size or steel loss in a beam that was not opened. The other openings look sound, and their reinforcement was not exposed. One damaged face is not a gauge for the rest.