Age and type of house
A log burner is fitted in a thatched house and the survey did not inspect the flue liner. What safety check has not been done?
The safety check that has not been done is an inspection of the flue liner and of how that flue is separated from the thatch. The survey noted a log burner in a thatched house and stopped there. It did not inspect the liner, the joints, the terminal or the distance between the hot flue and the coat. A home survey does not light the stove and does not certify it. Seeing the appliance in the room is not a flue inspection. The burner has not been passed, and it has not been failed, by this visit.
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?
Thatch is combustible, and a flue that is unlined, poorly jointed or too close to the coat is a fire path a glance at the stove cannot judge. The liner, if there is one, is inside the chimney. The surveyor did not open it and did not report on it. Registers, hearths and terminals are part of the same specialist look. None of those were signed off because the liner was not inspected. The note records the limit of the visit.
Ask a competent solid-fuel installer to inspect the liner and the thatch clearance and to say, in writing, what is missing. Tell the solicitor and, if you are borrowing, the lender that the home survey has not done that check. The survey has not said the stove must be removed and has not said it is safe to use. Do not light it to see if it draws. Until the liner has been inspected, the safety question the report left open is still open.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see the log burner only from the room, without seeing a liner?
- What, if anything, could you see of the flue where it passes the thatch?
- Have you left certification of the appliance to a solid-fuel specialist?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the stove as noted, not as certified.
- Commission a flue-liner inspection by a competent solid-fuel installer.
- Tell the solicitor the thatch and the liner were not checked together.
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 chimney pot looks new, has the liner been inspected?
A new-looking pot is not a liner. The survey did not inspect the flue liner, so the safety check inside the stack has still not been done. The pot is only the terminal you can see from outside. Asking about it again later still leaves this liner point outside what the survey decided.
Can the home survey be updated to pass the burner without a new visit?
No. The survey did not inspect the liner, and rewriting the prose does not inspect it. A specialist look is a different appointment from the home survey. The home survey itself did not pursue this stove question any further than the visit.