Non-standard construction
The walls of a house named as Winget have no crack the surveyor could see. Does a quiet wall retire the non-standard name?
No. A quiet wall does not retire the Winget name. The survey has named the house as Winget and has recorded that no crack could be seen. Absence of a visible crack is a comment on the surfaces available that day. It does not cancel the construction, and it does not test the concrete the name refers to. The non-standard label stays until the construction is shown to be something else, not until a wall happens to look still. The survey has not retired the name, and a quiet elevation has not done it either.
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?
Winget is a precast concrete system. Houses of that type can stand for years without an obvious crack and still be the system the surveyor named. Cracking is one way distress shows. It is not the definition of the type. A surveyor who reports no crack is refusing to invent damage. A reader who then deletes the name is inventing a different house. The walls that could be seen were quiet. The name and the lack of a crack are both in the report.
Tell the solicitor the house is named as Winget and that no crack was seen, and ask what any lender has asked for on that system. Do not describe the walls as cleared concrete because they are uncracked. The survey has not cored them, has not exposed reinforcement, and has not decided that a quiet face ends the question of repair or designation. If someone needs testing, that is a further instruction. This visit did not carry it out.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What led you to name the house as Winget, separate from the lack of cracking?
- Where did you look for cracks, and which faces could you not see?
- Does a quiet wall leave the non-standard name in place?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the Winget name even though no crack was seen.
- Read the quiet walls as no visible crack, not as a test of the concrete.
- Ask the solicitor what the named system means for this purchase.
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 no crack shows, has the concrete been passed as sound?
No. No visible crack means no crack was seen on the faces inspected. It does not pass the concrete, expose the reinforcement, or retire the Winget name. The survey recorded quiet walls. It did not test them. A still elevation is not a structural clearance.
Can a later owner drop the non-standard label because the walls look calm?
No. The label comes from the construction, not from the mood of the elevation. The survey named the house as Winget and did not see a crack. Looking calm does not make it ordinary brick. Dropping the name would mis-state what the report said.