Condition ratings
The table shows roof as rating 2 while the prose treats a pitched roof and a flat roof separately. Which text do you follow?
Follow the prose split, and then ask which roof the table's single rating 2 was meant to cover. A pitched roof and a flat roof are different coverings. One cell labelled roof cannot honestly stand for both if the writing treats them apart. Do not pick the table when it is coarser than the text, and do not invent a second number the surveyor never gave the flat roof.
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 2 means a repair or replacement is needed but it is not serious or urgent. A single cell can only carry that meaning for one element unless the report clearly applies it to both. The prose has already separated a pitched roof from a flat roof, so they are two coverings. Follow that split when you read. Then ask which of them the table's 2 belongs to, and what the other one is: rating 1 if no repair is currently needed, rating 3 if it is serious or urgent, or NI if it was not really judged. Do not choose the kinder reading because it sits in the summary, and do not choose the harsher one because the flat roof makes you nervous.
Email the firm and ask them to align the table with the two paragraphs before you rely on the front page. The what to do now note advises you. Written quotations before legal commitment apply if one of these roofs is rating 3, not because a table and a paragraph disagree. The note does not invoice the seller. Until they answer, do not tell the agent the whole roof is rating 2, and do not tell the lender a flat roof failed if the prose has not said so. Concealed decks under a flat covering are not guaranteed sound either way. The task is to find out which number was meant for which roof.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which roof is the table's rating 2 meant to be?
- What rating, or NI, belongs to the other roof?
- Will you correct the table so it matches the two paragraphs?
What are the typical next steps?
- Follow the prose that separates the pitched roof from the flat roof.
- Ask the surveyor to align the table with those two coverings.
- Do not negotiate on a single roof number while the split is unresolved.
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 both paragraphs sound like rating 2, can the table stand?
Only once the surveyor says the 2 applies to both. Do not decide that for them.
Does a worse sentence in the flat-roof paragraph override the table?
It raises the question. It does not let you award rating 3. Ask them to reconcile it.