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Non-standard construction

Is a seller's memory of Class A, together with no laboratory letter in the pack, any evidence on a result the memory does not replace, or only a note of what was visible?

Only a note of what was said, and of what is missing. A seller's memory of Class A, with no laboratory letter in the pack, is not the result the memory claims to recall. Class A would be an outcome of a testing route. RICS guidance on the mundic problem is for surveyors in the south west. Cornwall Council describes a core test and does not provide it. A home survey does not drill cores or award Class A, B or C. The survey can record that the letter was absent and that the seller used those words. It has not confirmed a class.

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 laboratory letter is the paper that would tie a stated class to samples and to a date. Memory does not carry the sample numbers, the walls that were cored, or the limits of the result. With no letter in the pack, there is nothing for the survey to read and adopt. The seller may be speaking in good faith about an old test. That still is not the test. This visit did not repeat any sampling, and it must not promote a recollection into an award of Class A.

Ask the solicitor to request the laboratory letter from the seller, and treat the file as incomplete until it arrives. Tell any lender that the pack contains a memory, not a letter, and that this survey has not awarded a class. If the letter never appears, a fresh core test is a separate instruction. Cornwall Council describes that test and does not provide it. Do not exchange the seller's recollection for the missing page.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Is the Class A claim only the seller's recollection?
  • Was a laboratory letter actually in the pack you saw?
  • Has this survey awarded Class A, or refused to?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Treat the memory as speech, not as a laboratory result.
  2. Ask the solicitor to obtain the missing letter from the seller.
  3. Do not tell a lender that Class A has been confirmed.

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 sounds certain, does the class stand?

No. Certainty in a conversation is not a laboratory letter. The pack had no letter, and a seller's memory of Class A does not replace one. This home survey does not award Class A, B or C. RICS guidance on mundic is for surveyors in the south west. The result the memory points at is still absent.

Could an old letter still matter if it is found later?

Yes, as a document for the solicitor and for anyone who understands that testing route. It was not in the pack, so this survey could not read it and has not adopted it. Finding it later does not rewrite the visit. A home survey still does not itself award Class A, B or C.

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