Condition ratings
The chimney stack is rating 2 and the flashings on the same stack are rating 3. Why should those two numbers not be merged into one colour for the whole chimney?
They should not be merged because they are different elements with different meanings. Rating 2 means defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent. Rating 3 means serious and/or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. The stack is the first and the flashings on that same stack are the second. One colour for the whole chimney would hide the urgent flashing note or overstate the stack. The survey has separated them. NI, not inspected, is not in play here and would not be a pass if it were.
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?
Condition ratings attach to the element the surveyor rated, not to a convenient group. A stack can need ordinary repair while its flashings need serious or urgent work, or investigation, at the same time. Merging the numbers into a single colour, in a summary or in your own notes, drops that distinction. You would then either chase the masonry as if it were the urgent item, or soothe the flashings down to the stack's grade. Neither reading is what the report wrote. Keep the two lines apart.
When you speak to a roofer or a bricklayer, hand them the flashing rating and the stack rating as separate sentences. Tell the solicitor the report has not blended them. Do not let a one-colour headline become the version you renegotiate on. The rating 3 flashings are the serious or urgent item. The rating 2 stack is repair that is not in that class. The survey did not ask you to average them.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which element is rating 2, and which is rating 3, on this chimney?
- What would be lost if those two ratings were merged into one colour?
- Is NI used on either element, or were both actually rated?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the stack at rating 2 and the flashings at rating 3.
- Do not merge the chimney into one colour in your own summary.
- Brief a roofer on the flashings separately from the stack.
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 pots look fine, can the flashings come down to rating 2?
No. Pots are another element again. The flashings are rating 3, which means serious and/or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. The stack is rating 2, repair that is not serious or urgent. A tidy pot does not move either number. The survey rated what it rated. Do not average the chimney because one part looks calm.
Does the higher number always apply to every course of brick?
No. Rating 3 is on the flashings, not automatically on each course of the stack. The stack itself is rating 2. Merging them into one colour would paint the bricks with the flashing grade, or the flashings with the brick grade. Read the element named beside each number. That is the distinction the report has already made.