Condition ratings
What did the visit record about the letters NI, about a part of the house, and about not inspected, which RICS does not define as a pass?
The visit recorded the letters NI against a part of the house, and those letters mean not inspected. RICS does not define NI as a pass. The survey has decided only that this element was not inspected. It has not decided that the part is free of defects, and it has not given it a condition rating. Rating 1 means no repair currently needed. Rating 2 means defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent. Rating 3 means serious and/or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. NI is none of those.
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?
NI is used when the surveyor could not inspect something the service would otherwise cover: no access, a locked room, a covered surface, or a slope out of sight. Leaving it blank or calling it acceptable would invent a finding. The letters are the honest limit. They do not say the hidden part is sound, and they do not say it has failed. A later rating can only follow an inspection that took place. Until then the element stays outside rating 1, rating 2 and rating 3.
Point your solicitor to the NI item and to what access was missing, so the replies can ask the seller about that part. Do not tell a lender the element was rated satisfactory. If you need a condition view, arrange the access the first visit lacked and ask for that part to be inspected. The original letters will still mean not inspected. They will not convert into a pass because a seller says the room is fine.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which part of the house carries NI, and why was it not inspected?
- Does the report avoid giving that part a rating 1, 2 or 3?
- What access would be needed before the element could be rated at all?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read NI as not inspected, not as a pass.
- Tell your solicitor which element was missed.
- Arrange access if that part must be inspected.
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 rest of the house is rating 1, does NI become harmless?
No. Rating 1 means no repair is currently needed on the elements that were inspected and given that rating. NI is a different mark. It means the part was not inspected, so it has no condition result at all. A clean rating elsewhere does not travel across to the element the surveyor could not see.
Can a seller ask for NI to be rewritten as rating 2 to look milder?
Rating 2 means defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent, which is a finding after inspection. NI means not inspected. Rewriting one as the other would invent a condition the visit did not reach. Leave the letters as they are unless a later inspection actually supports a rating.