Seller-side surveys
The seller offers to open the screwed hatch after you have the report. Does that later opening rewrite the NI mark already printed?
No. A later opening does not rewrite the NI mark already printed. That mark records the visit as it happened: the screwed hatch stayed shut and the space behind it was not part of the inspection. A seller who offers to open it afterwards is offering a new event, not an edit of the sentence in the report. Unless the surveyor is instructed again and issues a revised note, the printed limit stands. The later look is not, by itself, part of this inspection.
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 screwed hatch is a limit the surveyor is entitled to leave closed. The report should say the space was not entered. What the seller does the week after does not reach back into that paragraph. Photographs taken later, or a verbal account of what was behind the panel, are new material. They sit outside the PDF you already have. Treat them as unread until someone competent writes them up as a fresh look.
If you want the space included, ask the firm whether a return visit is possible and what it would cover. Do not assume the original surveyor must come back, and do not tell a lender the NI has been cleared because the seller undid some screws. The solicitor can hold any later note with the papers. Until a revised inspection is issued, the printed mark remains the record of the first visit.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did the printed mark record a hatch that stayed shut on the visit?
- Does a seller's later opening, by itself, amend the report?
- Would a revised note need a fresh instruction?
What are the typical next steps?
- Leave the printed NI mark as the record of the visit.
- Do not tell a lender the space has been cleared.
- Ask the firm whether a return visit can be agreed.
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
Can the seller's photos of the opened hatch stand in for a reinspection?
No. Photos the seller takes after the visit are the seller's record, not a revision of the report. The surveyor has not seen them as part of the inspection, and the printed mark does not change because a camera phone was used later. If those images matter, send them only as part of a new instruction. Until then they are untested pictures.
What if the hatch conceals services the buyer still needs described?
Then the gap stays open. The first report did not describe what was behind the screws, so electrics, pipes or timber in that void were not inspected. A seller's offer to look does not appoint an electrician or a heating engineer. Ask which trade is actually needed, and keep that instruction separate from the paragraph already printed.