Electrics and gas
A gas fire is still fixed and the seller says it is capped. What cap was not verified if the surveyor did not dismantle the connection?
The cap itself was not verified. The gas fire is still fixed, and the seller's word that it is capped was not checked by dismantling the connection. The surveyor can record a fire in place and a seller's statement. Without taking the joint apart, the visit cannot say a proper cap is fitted, that the supply is isolated, or that the joint is tight. No gas test was done. The fire has not been certified as safe or as safely disconnected.
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?
A fire that remains on the hearth can look identical whether a sound cap is on the supply, a valve is merely closed, or the pipe is still open behind a cover. Dismantling that connection is gas work. It is not part of a visual home survey. The surveyor should not be described as having proved a cap they did not expose. HSE expects work on gas fittings to be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Ask the seller for any paperwork for the capping, and ask your solicitor to obtain it. If you need the connection verified, instruct a Gas Safe registered engineer. Do not light the fire to see what happens, and do not take the joint apart yourself. The survey has left the cap unverified. A later engineer is the person who can say what is actually on the pipe.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the fire still fixed, with the connection covered rather than dismantled?
- Did you rely on the seller's account of a cap, or did you see the cap yourself?
- Have you recorded that no gas test was carried out on that fire?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the seller for any paper that says the fire was capped.
- Do not treat the survey as verification of that cap.
- Instruct a Gas Safe registered engineer if the connection must be proved.
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 fire has no flame effect, is the supply capped?
No. A fire that is off, or that has no decorative flame, may simply be unused. The connection was not dismantled, so the survey still has not seen whether a cap is fitted. Off is not the same as isolated.
Does an old service sticker on the boiler cover this fire?
No. A sticker on the boiler is about that appliance, and only to the extent of what it actually says. It does not prove a cap on a separate fire the surveyor did not dismantle. The fire connection stays unverified until an engineer opens it.