Renegotiating or walking away
You have a builder's quote for a rating 3 lintel. Why is the quote, not the rating number, the figure to discuss with the seller?
The quote is the figure to discuss because it is a sum for the work, and the rating number is not. A rating 3 on the lintel is the surveyor’s condition label for that defect. It does not price the repair, name the builder or approve the method. The quote is what a builder has offered to do the job for, so that is the figure you can put in a conversation with the seller. The survey has not checked the quote and has not turned the rating into money.
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 labels sort urgency inside the report. They are not a bill and they are not a negotiation script. Two builders can price the same lintel differently once they see access, propping and finishes, and the survey has not chosen between them. Discussing the rating number with the seller, as if the digit itself were the money, misses the only figure anyone has actually attached to the work. The quote can be questioned. The rating cannot be cashed.
Show the solicitor the quote and the survey wording side by side, and decide with them what you want to ask the seller to do. The survey has not endorsed the builder and has not measured the quote against the defect beyond the fact a lintel was marked rating 3. If you seek another price, get it as its own document. Do not tell the seller the survey ordered them to pay the quote. It did not.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What work does the builder’s quote actually describe?
- Does the quote match the lintel the report marked?
- Where does the report stop short of pricing that lintel?
What are the typical next steps?
- Discuss the quote as the money figure, not the rating digit.
- Check the quote describes the same lintel.
- Get a second price as its own document if you need one.
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
Does a lower quote cancel the condition label?
No. A lower quote changes the money someone will talk about. It does not edit the survey or remove the rating on the lintel. The report’s label stays what the surveyor wrote. You can discuss either quote with the seller as a commercial figure. Neither quote rewrites the condition section.
Should you send the surveyor the quote to rewrite the report?
No. Sending the quote does not make the surveyor the builder’s checker, and it does not turn the rating into a price. The report already says what it says about the lintel. If you want a revised opinion, that is a further instruction, agreed separately. A quote discussed with the seller is not that instruction.