Condition ratings
What should be written down before you book the person named in a further-investigation line?
The scope, in writing, before any diary slot. Write the element, the question the survey left open, whether opening-up is allowed, that you require a written report, and who is instructing and paying. A named trade in the further-investigation line is not a brief. Until those points are on a page, a booking only reserves time.
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?
Copy the survey sentence rather than paraphrasing it into something vaguer. If the line is about one crack, one stack, one run of drain or one appliance, say so, so the specialist does not tour the house and answer a different question. Say whether they may lift floors, open panels or rely on what is already visible. The home survey did not do that opening-up for them, and it did not guarantee concealed parts. Services were visual, not safety-tested. The specialist should know they are not being asked to repeat the whole survey unless you truly want that wider job.
State that a phone call is not the deliverable. Where the original element is rating 3, you are also being told to obtain written quotations before a legal commitment, which is another reason the follow-up has to be paper, not a handshake on the path. There is no national tariff for these extras, so ask for their fee in the same note. You are the one who instructs. The surveyor has not appointed them by naming the kind of person. Book the slot only after the scope email is agreed, otherwise you will struggle to show anyone what was supposed to be answered.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which sentence should I paste into the specialist's instructions?
- What opening-up did you not do, so I can say so in that scope?
- Will you be instructing them, or is the instruction mine alone?
What are the typical next steps?
- Write the element, the question, the opening-up limits and the need for a written report.
- Agree that scope before you accept a diary slot.
- Keep the surveyor's name off the instruction unless they are actually appointed.
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
Is a text message enough scope?
Only if it truly records the element, the question and the written report you require. A time and a postcode are not a scope.
If the specialist arrives and looks at something else, have they answered the line?
No. Measure their report against the sentence you wrote down, not against the fact they attended.