Subsidence, settlement and heave
Underpinning pins show at the front and no design is in the pack. Has the survey certified that underpinning?
No. Pins at the front show that underpinning was done, and this survey has not certified it. No design is in the pack, and the visit did not match those pins to drawings, calculations or a completion record. Metal at the base of the wall is a sign of a past scheme, not a sign-off of depth, sequence or whether movement has stopped. The report notes the pins and the missing design. It leaves the adequacy of the underpinning undecided.
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?
Underpinning is work that takes the load of a wall down to a firmer level after movement, or to stop it. Pins, needles or similar metal can be left visible where that work met the front wall. Seeing them tells you a scheme was attempted. It does not tell you the soil, the depth, how the bays were sequenced, or whether the crack they were meant to arrest has stayed still. Without the design, the surveyor cannot say the visible metal is the scheme that was intended.
Ask the solicitor for any structural design, building-control record, guarantee and monitoring that belongs to those pins, and keep that paper separate from this report. A lender may want its own structural comment once the design is found, or once it is clear there is none. The home survey does not appoint an engineer and does not certify old underpinning. Do not tell anyone the front wall has been signed off because the pins can be seen.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where on the front wall are the pins actually visible?
- Which design papers were absent from the pack on the day?
- What wording shows the underpinning was noted, not certified?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor for any design and completion record.
- Keep this report separate from any later engineer’s note.
- Do not describe the pins as a sign-off of the scheme.
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 the seller’s builder certify the pins instead?
No. A builder looking at the same metal still has not produced the missing design or tested the ground. This visit recorded pins and an empty pack. Certification would need the scheme papers, and often an engineer instructed for that purpose. The home survey has not handed that job to a builder on site.
Does one quiet crack mean the underpinning worked?
A quiet crack on a single visit does not prove the scheme worked. Movement is judged over time, and this attendance did not compare the pins with a design or with earlier readings. The report can say what the wall looks like now. It cannot declare the underpinning a success from one look.