Survey costs
The seller repaints the stained wall and asks the surveyor back. Why is a reinspection a new visit, not a free edit of the rating?
Because the rating was given on the earlier visit, and paint does not edit it. A reinspection is a new visit, not a free correction of the PDF. The seller has repainted a stained wall. That may hide the stain. It does not, by itself, show the cause has gone, and it does not oblige the surveyor to change the number without looking again. If they come back, that return is a further instruction. It is not a courtesy rewrite.
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?
Stains are what people paint over when a buyer starts asking questions. The original note recorded what was visible then. Once the wall is a fresh colour, the old surface cannot be re-read from the sofa. Anyone who wants to know whether the mark should change has to attend, see the repaint, and decide whether anything about the cause is actually different. Doing that is a new inspection. Striking the sentence out in the office, unseen, is not.
Do not tell the agent the rating has fallen because the wall looks white. Ask the surveyor, if you want them back, what a reinspection would and would not cover, and accept that it is another visit. Keep the first report until a written revision exists. A decorator's invoice is not that revision. If you decide the stain no longer matters to you, that is your decision. It is still not a free edit the surveyor has already made.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Will you alter the rating without seeing the repainted wall?
- What would a reinspection need to look at before any number changed?
- Does the original note still stand until you issue a written revision?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat a return visit as a new inspection, not a free edit.
- Do not assume paint has cleared the original comment.
- Keep the first rating until the surveyor revises it in writing.
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 seller sends a photo of the fresh paint, is that the reinspection?
No. A photograph is not the surveyor back on site. The rating is not freely edited from a picture of a repainted wall.
If you no longer mind the stain, has the rating changed?
No. Your comfort is not a revision. The rating changes only if the surveyor reinspects and writes a change. Paint alone is not that visit.