Condition ratings
The gutter is condition rating 1 and the parapet gutter is rating 3. Why must those not be averaged?
Because they are different elements, and ratings are not averaged. The gutter at condition rating 1 needs no repair now, beyond normal maintenance. The parapet gutter at rating 3 is serious or needs urgent repair or investigation. A sound length does not dilute a failed one, and the pair does not become a rating 2 by arithmetic. Keep each sentence with its own number. When you ask for quotations, describe the parapet gutter that was rated 3, not a blended roof.
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?
Buyers like a single mood for the whole roof. The report has refused that mood. Rating 1 on the gutter means that gutter, as seen, does not currently need repair. Rating 3 on the parapet gutter means that gutter does. Water does not respect your wish to average them, and neither does the scale. If you tell the seller the roof is really a 2, you have invented a rating the surveyor did not give and hidden the urgent element.
Quote the two notes separately to the solicitor and to any roofer. The roofer should say whether their price is for the parapet gutter, the ordinary gutter, or both. Do not let a tidy front gutter pay, in the negotiation, for a parapet that is rating 3. Normal maintenance on a rating 1 is still maintenance. It is not a credit against the serious item. Obtain written quotations for the rating 3 element before you are legally committed.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which gutter is rating 1, and which parapet gutter is rating 3?
- What did you see that kept those ratings apart?
- What should a quotation name so it is clearly about the rating 3 gutter?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not average the rating 1 gutter with the rating 3 parapet gutter.
- Obtain written quotations for the parapet gutter before commitment.
- Keep the rating 1 note as maintenance, not as a credit.
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 most of the rainwater goods are fine, can the parapet wait?
No. The parapet gutter is rating 3 on its own. Other sound gutters do not average it down or turn it into ordinary maintenance.
Does water connecting them make one rating?
No. Water can run from one to the other without making the ratings identical. Report and repair the element that was actually marked 3.