Condition ratings
An external soil pipe is stained. Does that rating transfer to the bathroom fittings indoors?
No. Staining on an external soil pipe does not transfer that rating to the bathroom fittings indoors. The stain is on the outside pipe. Basins, the pan, and the bath are different fittings, and they are rated only if they were seen and judged. A marked external pipe can sit beside indoor fittings that were fine, or beside fittings that were not inspected.
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?
An external soil pipe carries waste down the outside face. Staining on it is a mark on that pipe, often at a joint or a hopper. It can be rating 2 if a repair is needed but is not serious or urgent, or rating 3 if the surveyor thinks the leak is serious or urgent, in which case you get written quotations before legal commitment. The bathroom fittings indoors are the pan, the basin, the bath and their wastes where they were seen. A stain outdoors does not move onto them. If those fittings were not looked at, they are NI, not the soil pipe's number, and NI is not rating 1.
The what to do now note advises you about the pipe if it is rating 3. It does not invoice the seller for a new bathroom suite. Inside the pipe, and the drains it joins, were not opened by looking at a stain, and concealed lengths are not guaranteed sound. Services and wastes are visual only. They are not tested. Ask whether the stain is active, which joint it sits on, and what rating the indoor fittings actually received. A plumber pricing a new bath because the outside pipe is streaked has not read the element.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What rating is on the stained soil pipe?
- Were the bathroom fittings indoors given a different rating, or NI?
- Is the stain at a joint you could see, or a guess about the drain?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the stain on the external pipe.
- Do not regrade the bath, basin or pan to match it.
- If the pipe is rating 3, get quotations for the pipe before you commit.
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 the pipe be rating 2 and the bathroom fittings rating 1?
Yes. An outdoor joint can need ordinary repair while the fittings need nothing now.
Does a smell indoors give the fittings the pipe's rating?
No. A smell is a comment. Ask whether any indoor fitting was rated, and do not copy the outside number across.