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Condition ratings

Can a missing legal right, such as access or a consent, be given a condition rating?

It should not be forced into rating 1, 2 or 3. Those ratings describe the condition of building elements. A missing consent, a doubtful access or a short lease is a legal matter. The survey can flag it for your solicitor. The Level 3 description’s ratings are not a title report, and a lease or a missing consent is not a crack.

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?

Surveyors do mention legal risks they notice, especially at Level 1’s job of flagging potential legal issues, but noticing is not deciding. Your solicitor checks the deeds, the searches and the consents. A rating 3 on a roof is still about the roof. Writing “rating 3 access” because the yard is shared invents a category. RICS “what to do now” is about quotations for physical defects before you commit, not about scoring a covenant.

Keep two lists. One is condition, with quotes where the rating requires them. One is legal, with the solicitor. There is no RICS price for a right of way. Do not ask the seller for money off “rating 3” on a missing building-regulations certificate unless you also have a condition defect. The missing paper is the solicitor’s point.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Which of your comments are condition, and which are legal flags?
  • Are you applying a number to a document you did not see?
  • What should the solicitor pick up that you are not rating?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Send legal flags to the solicitor without turning them into ratings.
  2. Send physical defects to a contractor without turning them into title opinions.
  3. Do not add the two lists into one deduction.

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

Can a survey mention a legal risk at all?

Yes. Mentioning it is not the same as rating it. Read the sentence.

Is an missing FENSA certificate a rating 3 window?

No. Missing paperwork is not a leak. The frame’s condition is a separate comment. FENSA is not the only paperwork route.

Sources