Survey reports are only useful if you understand them. This building survey glossary explains, in plain English, the terms you are most likely to meet in RICS survey reports, valuations and party wall documents.
Survey Types and Ratings
- Condition Rating 1/2/3 — the RICS traffic-light system: 1 = no repair needed; 2 = defects needing attention but not serious; 3 = serious defects needing urgent attention or investigation
- Level 2 Home Survey (HomeBuyer) — mid-level survey for conventional homes in reasonable condition; see our Level 2 service
- Level 3 Home Survey (Building Survey) — the most detailed inspection, for older, altered or unusual buildings; see Level 3
- Reinstatement cost — the rebuild cost for insurance, not the market value
Structure and Movement
- Subsidence — downward movement of the ground supporting the building; heave is the opposite (ground swelling); settlement is the normal bedding-in of a structure under its own weight
- Underpinning — strengthening existing foundations, usually after subsidence
- Lintel — the beam over a window or door opening; failed lintels cause cracking above openings
- Wall tie — metal connector holding the two leaves of a cavity wall together; corroded ties cause horizontal cracking
- Spalling — the crumbling of brick or stone faces, usually frost or salt damage
Damp and Timber
- Rising damp — ground moisture rising through walls; penetrating damp — water entering through the fabric; condensation — airborne moisture on cold surfaces, the most common of the three
- DPC (damp-proof course) — the barrier near the wall base that resists rising damp
- Dry rot / wet rot — fungal timber decay; dry rot is the aggressive one that spreads beyond damp timber
- Woodworm — beetle infestation of structural timber
Legal and Valuation Terms
- Red Book — the RICS valuation standards; a Red Book valuation is the formal, regulated product courts and HMRC expect
- Easement / covenant — rights over, and restrictions on, land that can affect value and use
- Party wall / party structure — walls and structures shared with a neighbour, governed by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996
- Schedule of condition — a dated photographic record of condition, used in party wall matters and leases
- Dilapidations — a landlord’s claim for breach of lease repairing obligations; see dilapidation surveys
Met a term your report didn’t explain? Ask us — every Manchester Surveyors report comes with a follow-up call so nothing is left unclear.