Age and type of house
A pavement light in front of a Victorian house is cracked. What has the survey not established about the vault under the street?
The survey has not established the strength or the dryness of the vault under the street. A cracked pavement light in front of a Victorian house is a glass or iron panel in the public pavement, often over a coal vault. The surveyor may note the crack from the house side if they could see it. They do not open the street, test the vault slab or decide who must repair the light. Structure under the pavement that stayed closed is simply unexamined.
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?
Many Victorian terraces have a vault or coal cellar that runs forward under the pavement, lit by glass lenses set in an iron frame. A cracked lens, a missing lens or a rusty frame is what a careful look can record. The brick vault, the cover over the cellar, and the pavement slab around the frame are often outside the parts a surveyor can safely enter. They do not dig the street and they do not load the frame. A view from a cellar, if the cellar was open, is still a view, not a structural calculation.
Do not assume the crack means the vault is about to collapse, and do not assume a pretty front step means the vault is dry. Ownership and the duty to repair a pavement light are not decided in the survey. Your solicitor can ask who is responsible. If the cellar under the house was not entered, that is a further limit and should be written as not inspected rather than as a sound vault. The house rating for internal floors is a different element from the street light.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see the vault from a cellar, from the pavement, or not at all?
- Is the cracked light recorded on its own, separate from the house floors?
- Are you leaving responsibility for the pavement light to the solicitor?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask your solicitor who repairs the pavement light. Do not expect the survey to decide.
- If a cellar was not entered, treat the vault as unseen.
- Do not stand people on a cracked light to 'test' it.
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
Is a cracked lens the same defect as a failed house roof?
No. It is a pavement light. The main roof needs its own comment, and this glass does not rate the slates.
Can the surveyor permit you to replace the light?
No. The survey does not grant consent or say who owns the pavement. It records condition if it could see the light.