Condition ratings
Can a house have several condition rating 2 items and still have no rating 3?
Yes. Each element is rated on its own. Rating 2 means defects that need repairing or replacing but are not considered serious or urgent. Several of those are several jobs. They do not add up, by any rule in the RICS definition, into a rating 3. A rating 3 is used when a defect is serious and/or needs urgent repair, replacement or investigation.
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?
Buyers and sellers both misuse the arithmetic. A seller says “there is no 3, so the report is clean”. A buyer says “five 2s equal a 3, so I want five thousand pounds”. Neither sentence is the definition. What you can do is list the rating 2 repairs and ask contractors what they cost, then decide whether the total changes the price you will pay. The definition of rating 3 still requires you to get written quotes before legal commitment when a 3 does appear.
Also look at NI and at any further-investigation wording. A report with no rating 3 can still leave the loft uninspected or recommend a specialist. “No rating 3” is not “no decision left to make”. RICS’s “What to do now” note is about acting on what the report actually says, including the 2s you might otherwise shrug off.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which rating 2 items do you think we should cost before exchange, even though they are not urgent?
- Is there any NI or further-investigation line that matters more than the numbered ratings?
- What would you not want us to describe as a rating 3 when you have called it a 2?
What are the typical next steps?
- Cost the rating 2 repairs if the total might change your offer. Do not relabel them.
- Read NI and further-investigation lines in the same sitting.
- If you negotiate, attach quotes, not a theory about adding ratings together.
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 one element be both 2 and 3?
The report should give the element one rating. If two boxes are ticked, ask the firm to correct it. Do not average them.
Does a rating 2 on the electrics mean they were tested?
No. Services are not specialist-tested on a Level 3. The rating is not an EICR.