Seller-side surveys
The property questionnaire inside a Home Report says the boiler was serviced. Has the single survey verified that service, or is the questionnaire the seller's form?
The questionnaire is the seller's form. The single survey has not verified that the boiler was serviced. The property questionnaire inside the Home Report is where the seller states matters such as a service. That statement is not a gas inspection, and the survey did not service the boiler or test the appliance because a box was ticked. If you need the service proved, you need the service papers, not a second reading of the seller's answer.
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 Home Report puts two kinds of words side by side. The Single Survey is the surveyor's inspection. The property questionnaire is completed by the seller. Buyers merge them because they arrive in one pack. A sentence about a boiler service can look like a finding. It is a declaration. The surveyor has not, by leaving that page in the pack, checked the date, the engineer or the work. Gas appliances are not tested by a home survey copying a seller's line.
Ask your solicitor to obtain the actual service record if the boiler matters to you, and compare it with what the questionnaire says. If they differ, the record is the evidence and the questionnaire is what the seller wrote. Do not ask the single survey to be amended into a gas certificate. It is not one. A Gas Safe registered engineer is the person who works on the boiler. The survey has not done that job.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the service sentence in the property questionnaire rather than in the single survey?
- Did the inspection test or service the boiler, or only record the house?
- Which document would you expect to see before a service claim is believed?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the boiler-service line as the seller's questionnaire, not as a test.
- Ask the solicitor for the actual service record.
- Do not read the single survey as a gas certificate.
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 surveyor did not contradict the questionnaire, is the service confirmed?
No. Silence is not a check. The single survey has not verified the service. The questionnaire remains the seller's form, and a missing contradiction does not test the boiler. The single survey stayed silent, and silence did not test the boiler.
Does a recent date in the questionnaire prove an engineer attended?
No. A date written by the seller is still the seller's statement. It does not prove who attended or what they did. Ask for the record. The survey has not verified it. Who attended is shown by the record, not by the seller's date.