Condition ratings
What does RICS’s “What to do now” note expect you to do with a rating 3?
It expects you to act on serious and urgent defects before you are legally committed, including getting written quotations where repairs are needed. It does not set the price, choose the contractor or tell you to withdraw. Those decisions are yours, with your solicitor on the contract and the contractor on the work.
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?
Read the note against the element that was rated 3. If the advice is investigation, the “quotation” may be the specialist’s fee to look, followed by a second figure to repair. If the advice is replacement, ask a contractor to specify what they will replace. Two quotes you cannot compare are not the written quotations RICS is pointing you towards.
Take the quotes to the solicitor before exchange in England and Wales. In Scotland, ask a Scottish solicitor how the Home Report and the missives work, because “What to do now” is written around the RICS home-survey product and the usual English timing is not the Scottish one. Do not sign something because the note made you feel late. Feeling late is not a deadline. The contract is.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which rating 3 items need a quote, and which need an investigation first?
- What should the quotation include so it matches your advice?
- What would you not want me to agree a price cut for, until the quote exists?
What are the typical next steps?
- Get comparable written quotes.
- Show them to the solicitor with the survey page.
- Then renegotiate, proceed, or withdraw, if you still can. Ask the solicitor whether you can.
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
Does “before legal commitment” mean before I pay a search fee?
No. It means before you are bound to buy. Searches happen earlier. Ask the solicitor which signature binds you.
If the seller will not wait for a quote, what then?
You choose with the information you have. The note cannot force the seller to pause. Your solicitor explains the deadline you are under.