Non-standard construction
The report names a Smith system house and then describes ordinary cracked pointing. Why is the pointing note not a test of that system?
The pointing note is not a test of that system. The report names a Smith system house and then describes ordinary cracked pointing. Cracked mortar is a joint defect a surveyor can see on almost any brick face. It says nothing about the concrete system behind the name: not the panels, not the frame, and not whether a repair scheme was carried out. The inspection identified a non-standard house and, separately, noted pointing. One sentence does not test the other.
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?
Smith system houses are named because their construction is not the ordinary cavity wall the pointing sits on in a conventional house. Once the name is used, the buyer’s question is about that system. Ordinary cracked pointing does not answer it. The survey did not core concrete, did not open a panel, and did not attach a repair certificate. A raked joint, a missing joint, or a crack along the bed is still mortar.
Keep the Smith name and the pointing note in different columns. Ask the solicitor for any system-repair papers. Ask a specialist if the construction itself must be investigated. Do not let a contractor’s quote for repointing be described as the investigation the system still lacks. The survey named the house. The cracked pointing did not test it. Pointing remains mortar even if a contractor prices it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What led you to name a Smith system rather than a conventional wall?
- Was the cracked pointing recorded as mortar, not as a system test?
- What investigation of the concrete, if any, was outside this visit?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the Smith name separate from the cracked pointing.
- Ask the solicitor for any repair papers for the system.
- Do not treat a repointing quote as a test of the construction.
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 pointing is the only defect, is the system fine?
No. The pointing is the defect that was visible in the mortar. The Smith system was named and not tested. An otherwise quiet elevation does not sample the concrete or produce a repair certificate. The report’s pointing note stays a pointing note. It is not a clean bill for the system.
Can repointing in a matching mortar retire the Smith label?
Repointing changes the joints. It does not change the construction the survey named, and it was not done as a test. The Smith label remains a system identification. Ordinary mortar work, however neat, is not an investigation of that system and does not retire the name.