New builds and warranties
Garden soil on a new plot sits above the damp-proof course. What has that observation not priced?
It has not priced a remedy. Soil sitting above the damp-proof course on a new plot is something the surveyor could see and record. That observation is not a quotation, not a deduction from the price, and not a figure in the warranty. No home survey on this page produces a cost for lowering the beds. Ask a contractor for a price if you want one, and do not invent it from the rating.
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?
High soil against a new wall is a common site-finishing problem. The beds are built up, paving is laid too high, or render is taken down into the ground. The surveyor can see the relationship between the soil and the damp-proof course and can say why that matters in principle: the course is there to be above the ground, not buried. They cannot, in the same sentence, price the labour, the waste, the new levels or any making-good of paths. There is no national tariff for that job hidden in a condition rating, and this report must not pretend there is.
Ask the builder to deal with the levels if the plot is still in their hands, and photograph the line of the course before any cosmetic gravel goes in. If you are past the point of asking the builder informally, read the warranty wording rather than assuming a buried course is an insured sum. The survey's role stops at the observation and the advice to sort it out. When a landscaper gives you a figure, that figure is theirs. Do not attribute it to the surveyor, and do not subtract a guessed sum in a letter to the developer as if the report had calculated it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where does the soil sit relative to the damp-proof course?
- Have you deliberately left the remedy unpriced?
- What should the buyer photograph before the beds are altered?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the builder to lower soil that buries the damp-proof course.
- Photograph the line before any gravel is added.
- Get a contractor's price rather than inventing one from the rating.
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
Is buried damp-proofing automatically an insurance payout?
No. The observation is not a claim value. Read the policy if you think cover might apply.
Does rating the wall include a quote to rebuild the patio?
No. The rating is condition. A patio price comes from someone who is pricing the work.