Condition ratings
Two bedrooms were locked because tenants were out. What rating must you not invent for rooms that were not entered?
You must not invent a condition rating for rooms that were not entered. Two bedrooms were locked because the tenants were out. The surveyor did not see those rooms, so they cannot be given rating 1, which means no repair currently needed, or rating 2, which means defects that need repair but are not serious or urgent, or rating 3, which means serious and/or urgent repair, replacement or investigation. The honest mark is NI. NI means not inspected, not a pass. A locked door is not a clean bedroom. It is a room the inspection did not include.
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?
Tenants being out is a reason for the limit, not a description of the decorations, the floors, or the windows behind the lock. RICS expects the report to flag parts that could not be inspected. If the surveyor is concerned about a locked room, the text should say what further investigation is needed. If the text is silent, you still do not promote the silence into a rating. Guessing from the hallway, from the tenant’s neat front step, or from the other bedroom is how invented ratings get written.
Ask the surveyor to confirm both bedrooms are NI, and arrange a return when the tenants can open them if those rooms matter to the purchase. Tell the solicitor the report does not cover the locked rooms. Do not fill the blanks with rating 1 because the rest of the house looked acceptable. Not entered means not rated. NI is the mark that says so.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which rooms were locked, and were they marked NI?
- What, if anything, could you see without entering?
- Did you refuse to give a condition rating to rooms you did not enter?
What are the typical next steps?
- Leave the locked bedrooms as NI, not as an invented rating.
- Arrange access and a return visit if those rooms must be seen.
- Tell the solicitor the report does not cover the rooms that stayed shut.
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 tenant says the rooms were decorated last year, is that rating 1?
No. A tenant’s remark is not an inspection, and rating 1 means no repair currently needed only where the element was inspected. These bedrooms were locked. NI means not inspected, not a pass. Decoration claimed by someone who was out does not become a condition rating. Wait until the rooms are entered.
Can the same rating as the open bedroom be copied across?
No. The open bedroom has a rating because it was seen. The locked ones were not, and NI is not a pass you may overwrite with the neighbour room’s number. Rating 2 or 3 would be just as invented. Each room keeps the mark the surveyor could honestly give. For these two, that mark is not a condition rating.