Leasehold

A Section 20 notice for window works is in the pack and your survey rates the windows 2. Why is the notice not a restatement of that rating?

The notice is not a restatement of that rating because they answer different questions. A Section 20 notice is a consultation paper about proposed window works and how a landlord may seek to recover the cost through the service charge. The survey's rating of the windows is a condition comment on what the surveyor saw. One can exist without the other meaning the same thing. The survey has rated the windows. It has not written the notice, has not checked that the consultation was carried out properly, and has not decided that the works described are the repairs its rating had in mind.

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?

Leaseholders often lay the notice beside the rating and expect them to match word for word. They will not. The notice is a landlord's process under the leasehold legislation. It names works the landlord wants to consult on. The rating is one surveyor's view of the windows on one day, in the flat or the block that was inspected. The windows in the notice might be the ones you looked at, or a block-wide scheme that goes much further.

Give both papers to the solicitor and ask them to read the notice against the lease, not against the rating. Ask the surveyor what the rating was based on: the frames they could see, not the consultation. Do not treat the notice as proof the survey thought the works were defined in a particular way, and do not treat the rating as the landlord's case for the bill. They are neighbours in the pack. They are not the same sentence.

What should you ask your surveyor?

What did you actually see of the windows you rated?
Did you read the Section 20 notice as part of this inspection?
Are you equating your rating with the works named in that notice?

What are the typical next steps?

Keep the Section 20 notice separate from the window rating.
Ask the solicitor to read the notice against the lease.
Ask the surveyor what condition the rating was based on.

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 both papers mention windows, do they describe the same work?

Not necessarily. Both can use the word windows and still not match. The notice is a consultation about proposed works. The rating is a condition comment. The survey has not checked that the notice describes the defects it saw, and it has not restated the notice.

Has the survey checked that the consultation was done correctly?

No. Correct consultation is a legal question for the solicitor, reading the notice and the lease. The survey rated windows it inspected. It did not audit the Section 20 process and it did not decide the status of the notice.