Seller-side surveys
The buyer has asked you, as seller, to replace a rating 2 window before exchange. Does the survey order you to do that?
No. The survey does not order you to replace that window before exchange. It gave the window a condition rating of 2 for the buyer who was the client, if the report is theirs. A rating is a comment on condition. It is not a works order, a contract term, or a demand that you fit a new window as the price of the sale. The buyer may ask for a replacement. That request is a negotiation between you. The survey has not instructed the work, and it has not said the sale can proceed only if the window is renewed.
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 ratings exist so a buyer can see what the surveyor thought needed attention. They do not bind the seller, who may not even be the client, and they do not rewrite the contract. A rating of 2 on a window means the surveyor marked that window. It does not specify the manufacturer, the glass, or a date by which you must act. You can refuse, offer a price change, or do the work, and none of those choices is an order hiding in the report.
Read the actual window comment before you answer, including any limitation on whether the frame was opened. Ask your solicitor how a request to replace it sits against the contract you have, and do not treat the buyer's letter as if the surveyor had signed an instruction to you. If you do replace it, that is your decision. The survey has not supervised the new window and will not, by itself, confirm the replacement.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did the window comment actually say, beyond the rating number?
- Does the report instruct a replacement, or only record condition?
- Was the frame opened, or is part of the window not inspected?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the window comment as a condition note, not as an order to you.
- Decide with your solicitor whether to refuse, negotiate, or replace.
- Do not treat a buyer's request as a survey instruction.
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 you leave the window as it is, have you disobeyed the survey?
No. You cannot disobey a report that never ordered the work. The rating describes the window for the client. It does not compel the seller to renew it before exchange. Leaving it in place may affect what the buyer will agree, which is a contract question, not a breach of the survey.
Can the buyer treat the rating as a promise you must fit new glass?
No. A condition rating is not a specification and not a promise by the seller. The survey has not chosen the glass, the frame, or who pays. If the buyer wants a particular replacement, that has to be agreed between you. The report has not already agreed it.