Condition ratings

A contractor prices the work without opening anything. Is that the investigation, or only a price?

Only a price, not the investigation. The contractor has numbered a repair while every cover, board and floor they would need to look under has stayed in place. Where the report asked for investigation, investigation means finding out, which this closed-up figure has not done. Keep the paper. Call it a price. Do not call it the look the survey still wants.

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?

There is a proper place for prices. A rating 3 element is serious or urgent, and the advice that goes with that grade is to obtain written quotations before you enter a legal commitment. A quotation can therefore be necessary and still not be the investigation. The difference is whether anyone answered the factual question: what is actually there, once you can see it. A sum built on assumptions, with nothing opened, records the assumptions and the sum. It does not record a finding.

If you later allow opening-up, agree it in the scope and ask for a written note of what was found, separate from the revised price. The original home survey did not open those parts either. Concealed fabric is not guaranteed at any level, and secured panels stay on during a standard Level 1 or Level 2. That is why the follow-up exists. Paying for a guess does not finish it. When you speak to the solicitor, describe the document as an unopened quotation so the file does not show an investigation you never received.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did your paragraph ask for investigation, for quotations, or for both?
What is still concealed that this price never saw?
How should I label an unopened quotation so it is not mistaken for findings?

What are the typical next steps?

Label the contractor's paper as a price only.
Commission opening-up if the report asked for an investigation.
Get written quotations before commitment where a rating 3 requires them, without confusing them with findings.

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 the price is very detailed, has the wall been opened?

No. Detail in a spreadsheet is not an opening. Ask what they actually uncovered.

Can you use the price in a negotiation anyway?

You can show it as a price. Do not tell the seller it is the investigation result.