Wall ties and cavity insulation
A wall-tie guarantee in the pack has an end date that has passed. What test of the ties has the expiry not performed?
The expiry has not performed any test of the ties. A guarantee in the pack has an end date that has passed, which means the paper cover has run out. It does not mean someone has inspected the ties, pulled one, or looked into the cavity on the day the date fell due. The home survey has not tested the ties either. An ended guarantee is a date. It is not evidence the ties have failed, and it is not evidence they are sound.
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?
Wall-tie work is sometimes sold with a written guarantee for a period. When that period ends, you still have the walls, plus a document that no longer promises a claim. The metal in the joints is not examined by a calendar. Corrosion or missing ties would need their own look, and that look is not the expiry. The survey can say the date has passed and that no tie test was done. It should not turn a lapsed certificate into a defect it did not see.
Show the expired guarantee to the solicitor as a document that has ended, not as a test result. If the walls worry you, or the survey saw related cracking, ask for a proper tie inspection rather than reading the date as one. Do not tell a lender the ties were tested because a guarantee once existed. The home survey did not open the cavity and did not test the ties.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What end date does the guarantee show, and has that date passed?
- Did the expiry itself include any inspection or test of the ties?
- Did the home survey test the ties, or only note the paper?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the passed end date as an expired guarantee, not a tie test.
- Do not tell a lender the ties were tested because the paper once existed.
- Commission a tie inspection only if you need the ties actually examined.
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 guarantee was long, were the ties proved for that whole period?
The guarantee is a promise on paper for a period. It is not a test repeated through those years, and the expiry has not performed a test now that the date has passed. The home survey did not test the ties either. Length of cover is not an inspection. You have a finished document, not a cavity survey.
Does a lapsed guarantee mean the ties have failed?
No. It means the guarantee period has ended. Failure would be a condition of the ties, which neither the expiry nor the home survey has tested. Do not convert a date into a defect. If you need to know the ties, that is a separate inspection. The pack only shows that the written cover has run out.