Condition ratings
Solar panels cover one slope and were not lifted. Can the hidden bays still be condition rating 1?
No. Bays hidden under solar panels that were not lifted cannot still be condition rating 1. Those bays were not seen. An unseen bay is not a pass. Any rating on that slope can only speak for the panels' edges and the covering that remained in view. Ask the report to mark the covered bays as not inspected rather than quietly 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?
Solar panels sit on the covering. Where they were not lifted, the tiles or slates under the array, the brackets, and the felt beneath those bays were not available to look at. Rating 1 means no repair is currently needed, which is a judgement on something that was considered. It is not the mark for a blank. NI means not inspected, and that is the honest line for the hidden bays. The visible courses beside the array can still be rated if they were seen. Do not let a rating on the open courses leak underneath the panels.
The panels themselves are a fitting. A visual note on cracked glass or loose cables is about the panels, and services are looked at visually rather than safety-tested, so nobody has certified the electrics of the array. Concealed coverings are not guaranteed sound. The what to do now note advises you. It does not invoice the seller to strip the array because a bay was unseen, and it does not turn NI into a defect. If you need the bays seen, that is a further visit with the owner's agreement and someone competent to move the panels, not a meaning already sitting in rating 1.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which bays are under the panels and were not seen?
- Is the rating on this slope only for the covering still in view?
- Are the hidden bays marked NI?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not treat covered bays as rating 1.
- Ask for NI on the unseen courses under the array.
- Separate any comment on the panels from the covering beneath them.
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 one panel is cracked, does the hidden tile bay become rating 3?
No. A cracked panel is the panel. The tiles under it stay unseen until someone lifts the array.
Can the edges around the array be rating 2 while the middle is NI?
Yes. Rate what was seen. Leave what was covered as not inspected.