New builds and warranties
If white goods listed in the specification are missing, what can the survey say?
The survey can see the space. It cannot read the specification. An empty alcove where a contract lists an appliance is a gap the solicitor should compare with the specification. It is not, by itself, a defect in the wall, and the survey does not decide whether the seller must supply the machine.
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?
Show homes and brochures often include appliances the plot specification does not, or the other way round. The inspection records what is fixed and what is absent on the day: a washing-machine space with no machine, a hob cut-out with no hob. That is evidence of what was there. The obligation to provide it is the contract and the specification. NHBC describes Buildmark as warranty and insurance for defects in the home, with the builder responsible in the first two years and cover for specific parts afterwards, not every snag. A missing toaster is not automatically that kind of defect.
Give the solicitor the specification and the survey note together. Do not ask the surveyor to rule on a commercial extra. Do not invent a price for the missing goods and paste it into a condition rating. If something that was supposed to be built in has been omitted and the surrounding work is unfinished, the survey can say the work is unfinished. The legal promise is still the solicitor’s document.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which appliances were missing, as against which spaces were simply empty by design?
- Are you comparing the plot with the specification, or only with the show home?
- Is any surrounding cupboard or service unfinished, rather than merely unfurnished?
What are the typical next steps?
- Send the specification to the solicitor with the survey note.
- Do not rate an absent appliance as if the wall had failed.
- Keep show-home extras out of the snag list unless the contract includes them.
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
Does Buildmark list the appliances?
Not as a shopping list. Read the policy you were given. Do not assume every brochure item is a warranted part.
If the machine is in the garage, does that settle it?
Note it. The solicitor still checks whether the specification required it to be fitted.