Non-standard construction
A concrete-repair certificate names the front elevation of a PRC house. What of the rear columns did that paper certify?
Nothing of the rear columns, if the certificate only names the front elevation. A concrete-repair certificate is a paper about the work it describes. Naming the front limits it to that face. The rear columns sit outside that wording unless the paper expressly includes them. PRC means precast reinforced concrete. The survey can record what the certificate says and what cracking or old repairs it can see. It has not tested the reinforcement, and it has not stretched a front-elevation certificate across the back of 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?
PRC houses are built from concrete panels with reinforcement that can corrode. A repair scheme, where one was done, is often certified elevation by elevation or by a stated schedule of work. If the schedule stops at the front, the rear columns were not the subject of that certificate. They may have been repaired under a different paper, or not repaired. The survey reads the wording it was given. It does not invent missing pages, and it cannot see every bar inside the concrete.
Ask the solicitor for the full certificate, the schedule and any later letters, and check whether the rear is named. A lender may have its own rules about PRC repairs. Those rules are not this report. Do not tell the lender the whole frame was certified because the front was. If the rear columns worry the survey on visual grounds, that remains a condition note. The certificate has not answered it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Does the certificate in the pack name only the front elevation?
- Were the rear columns included in that wording?
- Has the survey tested the reinforcement inside the concrete?
What are the typical next steps?
- Limit the certificate to the elevation it names.
- Ask the solicitor for the full schedule of repairs.
- Do not tell a lender the rear columns were certified.
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 a crack-free rear elevation prove the bars are sound?
No. A quiet elevation is what could be seen. Reinforcement sits inside the concrete, and this visit has not tested it. PRC repairs are a paper trail as well as a visual one. Absence of a crack does not extend a front-elevation certificate to the rear columns. Ask for the schedule. Do not read smooth concrete as a completed repair.
Can the survey rename the system if the certificate says PRC?
The certificate is evidence of what the repair firm called the house. The survey should use the name only where it has a basis, and it should say when the type is uncertain. A repair paper for the front does not, by itself, prove every panel. Construction still has to match what can be seen. The survey has not certified the rear columns.