Insulation in the cavity could not be named. What can the wall rating still say?

What is the fuller explanation?

A cavity wall rating is a judgement on the leaf and the finishes the surveyor could see: the brick or render, cracks, bulges, and any damp on the face. Insulation that could not be named was not identified. It might be an older fill, a later injection, or something the surveyor simply could not tell. Not being able to name it is not rating 1, because rating 1 means no repair is currently needed, and nobody has judged the fill. It is also not rating 3, because a serious or urgent defect has not been described. The honest place for the unnamed material is NI, not inspected, while the visible wall keeps whatever rating the visible wall earned.

Do not invent a product name, and do not invent a fault in it. An empty cavity is not, by itself, a defect, and an unnamed fill is not the same sentence as an empty cavity. Concealed insulation is not guaranteed sound, and it is not guaranteed defective. The what to do now note advises you. It does not invoice the seller to extract a material the survey never identified. If a decision really depends on knowing what is in the cavity, that is a further look with permission, not a number you write into the wall's rating. Ask the surveyor what they could see at the reveal or a vent, and what they are deliberately not naming.

What should you ask your surveyor?

• What could you see of the wall, as against the fill you could not name?
• Is the insulation NI, or have you folded it into the wall rating?
• Did any visible defect on the leaf depend on the fill?

What are the typical next steps?

1. Read the wall rating as a rating of what was visible.
2. Leave the unnamed fill as unidentified, not as a pass or a failure.
3. Do not ask the seller to remove insulation the report could not name.

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

Which pages should you read next?

• The front is rendered and the flanks are fair-faced brick. Can those faces carry different condition ratings?
• A concrete window sill is cracked. Does that number replace the rating of the wall around the opening?
• The only rating 3 is a garden boundary wall, not the house. Why is a price cut for the whole purchase hard to hang on that wall alone?
• Guide: What do condition ratings 1, 2, 3 and NI mean?
• All UK home survey questions

Sources

• RICS: Description of the RICS Home Survey Level 3 (condition rating definitions)
• RICS: What to do now (consumer PDF linked from the RICS home survey guide)
• RICS: RICS Home Surveys (Home Survey Standard)