Electrics and gas
A Rayburn flue passes through a cupboard that was full of stored items. What clearance around that flue was not measured?
The clearance around the Rayburn flue was not measured. The flue passes through a cupboard that was full of stored items, so the gap to those items and to the cupboard itself was not taken. The survey has recorded the flue route and the obstruction. It has not produced a figure for clearance, and it has not tested the flue for spillage or draw. Stored goods hiding the sides of a flue are why the measurement is absent, not a stand-in for it.
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?
A flue through a cupboard needs air and distance from things that can scorch or block it. When the cupboard is packed, the surveyor cannot put a tape on a gap they cannot see, and they should not invent one. The note stops at what was possible: the flue passes through, and the space was full. That is not a combustion test and not an installation certificate. Clearing the cupboard later would be a new look. It does not fill a measurement into this report after the visit.
Ask a competent heating engineer to inspect the Rayburn flue once the cupboard can be emptied, and to measure the clearance this visit could not. Tell the solicitor the flue route was seen and the clearance was not measured. Do not treat the seller's storage as evidence that the gap is adequate. Keep any installation paper for the Rayburn separate from this limitation.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which cupboard does the Rayburn flue pass through?
- What stored items stopped you measuring the clearance?
- Was any flue test done, or only the blocked route recorded?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask a heating engineer to measure the flue clearance once the cupboard is emptied.
- Tell the solicitor the clearance was not measured on this visit.
- Do not treat stored items as evidence that the gap is adequate.
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 cupboard is emptied later, does this report then contain a clearance?
No. Emptying the cupboard on another day may let someone measure the gap, but that measurement is not already in this report. The survey recorded a flue through a full cupboard and did not measure clearance. A later look is a later look. It does not rewrite the sentence you have.
Was the flue tested for draw while the cupboard was full?
No. Draw was not tested while the cupboard was full, and it was not tested at all on this visit. The survey did not carry out a flue-gas or spillage check. Clearance is the measurement that is missing. Combustion performance is a further thing the report has not done.