Condition ratings
Can a parapet gutter be condition rating 3 while the slate covering on the same roof is rating 1?
Yes. A parapet gutter can be rating 3 while the slate covering on the same roof is rating 1. The gutter is the channel behind the parapet. The slates are the covering. Water can sit in a failed gutter and wet the wall head while the slates themselves need nothing now. Do not average those two lines into one roof score.
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 parapet gutter is the hidden channel, often lead-lined, behind the upstand wall. It fails by splitting, blocking or losing its fall, and the water then sits against the wall head rather than running off the slates. That can be serious or urgent even when every slate is seated. Rating 3 means serious, urgent, or both, and the what to do now note tells you to get written quotations before legal commitment. Rating 1 on the slates means no repair is currently needed to that covering, only normal maintenance. The two definitions can sit on one roof because they are two elements.
Do not average a 3 and a 1 into a make-believe 2, and do not tell the lender the slates failed because the gutter did. The note advises you, the buyer. It does not invoice the seller for a new slate roof. Parts of a parapet gutter are often concealed behind the upstand, and concealed parts are not guaranteed sound even where the visible lead looked fair, so a rating 1 is not available for a length that was not seen. If that length is NI, leave it NI. When you take quotes, describe the gutter, the outlets and the slates as separate lines so the price follows the defect.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which element is rating 3, the gutter or the slates?
- How much of the parapet channel could you actually see?
- Is any length of the gutter NI rather than rating 1?
What are the typical next steps?
- Get quotations for the parapet gutter if it remains rating 3.
- Leave the slate rating at 1 unless the report says otherwise.
- Do not average the gutter and the slates into one figure.
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
Can a blocked outlet be rating 3 while the lead looks intact?
Yes, if the surveyor judges the blockage serious or urgent. The outlet is part of the gutter arrangement, not the slates.
Does rating 1 on the slates mean the parapet wall is sound?
No. The parapet wall is another element. Read its own paragraph.