Subsidence, settlement and heave
The seller mentioned old underpinning and the surveyor found no plaque or drawing. What can the inspection not verify about that work?
It cannot verify that the underpinning was done, nor its depth, its extent or its design. The seller mentioned old underpinning, and the surveyor found no plaque or drawing. The inspection has nothing on the wall or in the papers it saw that confirms the work. It has not measured a deepened foundation, and it has not checked a specification. A mention is not a verification. Until a drawing, a building-control record or an exposure shows the concrete, the survey cannot say the underpinning exists, let alone that it was adequate.
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?
Underpinning is concrete taken down beside or under an existing foundation to carry it lower. When it is real, there is sometimes a plaque, a guarantee, a drawing or a building-control note. None of those was found. The ground was not opened, so a sound-looking wall does not reveal a toe of concrete. The seller may be right, misremembering, or describing a different repair. The inspection can record the sentence and the absence. It cannot convert the sentence into an as-built record of depth, length and design.
Ask the solicitor to raise the underpinning with the seller and to ask for any drawing, guarantee or building-control document, and keep those papers as disclosed documents rather than as survey findings. Tell a lender the inspection could not verify the work. Do not write 'underpinned' on a form as a fact. If the crack pattern still worries you, an engineer looks at the building as it stands, without pretending the missing plaque was found.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you find any plaque, drawing or other mark of underpinning?
- Are depth, extent and design all unverified?
- Have you recorded the seller's mention without adopting it as fact?
What are the typical next steps?
- State that no plaque or drawing of underpinning was found.
- Do not verify depth, extent or design from the seller's mention.
- Ask the solicitor to request any paper the seller can produce.
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 later produces a sketch, has the survey verified it?
No. A sketch produced afterwards is a new document for the solicitor to consider. The inspection still found nothing on the day, and it has not checked the sketch against opened ground. Verification has not appeared with the paper. Anything further about the mentioned underpinning would be a different visit, not this note.
Does a straight wall prove the underpinning worked?
No. A straight wall does not prove underpinning exists. The surveyor found no plaque or drawing, so the work remains unverified, and a quiet elevation is not a substitute for that missing record. The survey stops at the mentioned underpinning and does not add any further conclusion.