Condition ratings
The specialist finds no decay. What should you do with the original rating 3 sentence?
Leave the rating 3 sentence in place, and put the specialist's written finding beside it. Do not delete, rewrite or soften the surveyor's words because the specialist found no decay. Send both papers to your solicitor, and ask the surveyor whether they want to add a comment. The original sentence remains the record of what the inspection concluded on the day.
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?
Rating 3 means the surveyor thought the matter serious or urgent, and it comes with advice to obtain written quotations before a legal commitment. A later specialist report is new evidence about the thing they were worried about. If that evidence is that no decay was found, it can change what you do next: you might not obtain decay-repair quotations, and you might be more willing to proceed. It does not auto-edit the PDF. The people who need to see the change of picture are you, your solicitor and, if they will comment, the surveyor. The seller's agent does not get to strike the sentence out.
When you ask the surveyor to comment, give them the specialist report in full rather than a summary that says it was fine. They may agree the concern has been answered, or they may say the specialist looked at a different spot. Either comment is useful. Neither is something you should forge into the original paragraph. No home survey guarantees concealed parts, so a clear specialist result is exactly the sort of extra fact the rating could not contain. Keep the history of the file straight: first the rating 3 sentence, then the finding of no decay, then any added comment.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- If I send you a report that finds no decay, will you add a comment rather than delete the rating 3?
- What in your original sentence might still stand even if decay was not found?
- Should the solicitor receive both documents rather than a rewritten paragraph?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the rating 3 sentence in the survey.
- Attach the specialist finding that no decay was found.
- Ask the surveyor for an added comment if you want their view of the new report.
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 you negotiate as if the rating 3 had never been written?
No. You can show that a specialist found no decay. You should not pretend the sentence was not there.
Does no decay mean every other rating 3 is cleared?
No. The finding applies to the decay that was investigated. Other rating 3 sentences stay until they are dealt with on their own terms.