A guide for surveyors and estates teams
Building condition surveys: what they cover.
What a building condition survey is, what it looks at, how condition grades and priorities work and what a clear report shows. With a checklist for the visit.
For buildings in the UK. Written 12 October 2026. Next review by 12 April 2027.
What it is, and why
The state of a building, part by part.
A building condition survey is an inspection of a building's fabric and services, one part at a time. For each part, the surveyor records its condition, what work it needs and how soon. Many surveys add a budget cost for each item of work, so the owner can plan and pay for repairs over the next few years.
The people who commission them are usually responsible for buildings rather than living in them: estates and facilities teams, councils, schools and colleges, landlords, and buyers or tenants of commercial property who want to know what they are taking on.
A council's own condition report puts the purpose plainly:
"The Condition Survey was required to capture an accurate picture of the state of the building in order to facilitate investment appraisals and future decision-making processes."Condition report for Torbay Council, Parkfield House, 13 April 2022
How it differs from other surveys
- A home survey for a buyer advises one person on one purchase. A condition survey is for whoever looks after the building, and is usually repeated.
- A stock condition survey is the housing version: a landlord surveying every home it owns. Our stock condition survey guide covers it.
- A schedule of condition records the state of a building on a set date, usually at the start of a lease, as evidence for later. It does not plan the work.
What it covers
Roof to grounds, as far as can be seen.
A condition survey usually looks at:
- The roof: coverings, gutters and downpipes, chimneys, rooflights and parapets, and the roof structure where it can be seen.
- The outside: main walls and their finish, windows, external doors, joinery and decorations.
- The inside: ceilings, walls and partitions, floors and stairs, internal doors, fittings, kitchens and washrooms, and any damp or mould.
- The services, as seen: heating and hot water, electrics, water and drainage, fire alarms and emergency lighting, lifts and ventilation.
- The grounds: paths, car parks and roads, boundary walls and fences, outbuildings and surface water drainage.
Most condition surveys are visual. The Torbay report describes its surveys as "visual and non-intrusive but sufficiently thorough as to identify the need for any further surveys or tests". Services were not tested, and nothing was opened up.
That limit matters in the report. Every part the surveyor could not see or reach should say so, with the reason, so nobody reads a gap as a clean bill of health. Testing the electrics or gas is for a qualified engineer, and the survey should point to where that testing is needed.
Grades and priorities
Two scales: how bad, and how soon.
Many condition surveys give each part two marks: a condition grade from A to D and a priority from 1 to 4. The grades below are quoted word for word from the Torbay Council report; the priorities are summarised from it.
Condition grade: how bad
- AGood."Performing as intended and operating effectively."
- BSatisfactory."Performing as intended but exhibiting minor deterioration."
- CPoor."Exhibiting major defects and/or not operating as intended."
- DBad."Life expired and/or serious risk of imminent failure."
Priority: how soon
- 1Urgent.Work that will prevent immediate closure, address an immediate high risk to health and safety, or remedy a serious breach of legislation.
- 2Essential, within two years.Work that will prevent serious deterioration of the fabric or services, or address a medium risk.
- 3Desirable, within three to five years.Work that will prevent deterioration, or address a low risk.
- 4Long term.Work outside the five year planning period.
Grade and priority are separate marks. In our view, the report should say why each priority was chosen: a worn part in a store room can wait longer than the same fault beside a fire exit. Age is not the test either. The same report gives the example that "A 30 year old asphalt roof covering may be performing perfectly satisfactorily and be a Grade A", while a new wall with a built-in defect can be a C.
Some reports use a simpler scale instead, with one number for each part. SurveyNest's mobile app uses 3 Urgent, 2 Repair needed, 1 No repair and NI Not inspected. Whichever scale you use, print its meaning in the report.
What a clear report shows
Easy to act on, easy to check.
A condition report is read by people who were not on the visit: a finance team, a board, a contractor pricing the work. In our view, a clear one has:
- The visit: the address, the date, the weather, whether the building was in use, and who carried out the survey.
- The limits: what was not seen or reached, and why.
- A short summary first: the urgent items, and the overall picture in a few lines.
- Each part in the same order: its grade, what was seen, where it is, a photo, the work needed and its priority. A cost too, if the client asked for one.
- A plan of works: every item sorted by priority and year, so the budget can follow it.
- The scales explained: what each grade and priority means, printed in the report itself.
Photos do much of the work. A photo of each defect, with a note of exactly where it is, lets anyone check the finding later and lets a contractor find it on site. For a worked example of one part of a building, see our roof inspection report example and template.
The checklist
A checklist for each building.
Use it on the visit, or as a check that your own survey form covers everything. Free to use and change.
Before the visit
- Address, use and size of the building
- Access agreed, including keys and the roof
- The asbestos register and any site safety rules
- Drawings, the last survey and open repairs
- What the client wants: grades, priorities, costs, how many years ahead
Roof
- Coverings
- Gutters and downpipes
- Chimneys, rooflights and parapets
- Roof structure, where it can be seen
Outside
- Main walls and their finish
- Windows
- External doors
- Joinery, cladding and decorations
Inside
- Ceilings, walls and partitions
- Floors and stairs
- Internal doors and fittings
- Kitchens, toilets and washrooms
- Damp and mould: where, and how much
Services, as seen
- Heating and hot water
- Electrics and distribution boards
- Water, plumbing and drainage
- Fire alarm, smoke detection and emergency lighting
- Lifts, ventilation and air conditioning
Grounds
- Paths, car parks and roads
- Boundary walls and fences
- Outbuildings and stores
- Surface water drainage
Before you leave
- A grade and a priority for every part, or not inspected and why
- A photo and a note of where, for each defect
- What could not be seen or reached
- Anything urgent told to the client the same day
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- 1
Rate each part
Outside, inside, services, fire safety and grounds: rate each part urgent, repair needed, no repair, or not inspected.
- 2
Photos and notes
On every defect, up to 400 a survey. No signal in the plant room? It saves on the phone.
- 3
A report to check
Choose AI drafting if you want it. The report comes back as a draft, and a person checks it before issue.
For estates, the Pro web app keeps condition reports beside each building's maps, thermal pictures, specifications and documents. Lite and Pro record what your surveyor sees. The grades, priorities and any costs stay your surveyor's judgement.
Questions
Building condition surveys, answered.
What is a building condition survey?
An inspection of a building's fabric and services, one part at a time, recording the condition of each part, the work it needs and how soon. It is used to plan and budget for repairs.
What does a condition survey include?
Usually the roof, the outside walls, windows and doors, the inside, the services as seen and the grounds. For each part: a condition grade, what was seen, a photo, the work needed and a priority, often with a budget cost.
What do condition grades A to D mean?
A common scale: A is good, B satisfactory with minor wear, C poor with major defects or not working as intended, and D bad, at the end of its life or at serious risk of failing. Priorities 1 to 4 then say how soon the work is needed.
How often should a building condition survey be done?
There is no single rule for most buildings. Condition surveys often plan five years ahead, so many owners repeat them on a cycle of about that length, and sooner after a change of use, a purchase or a major problem. Homes owned by social landlords follow the regulator's expectations: see our stock condition survey guide.
Does the surveyor open anything up or test the services?
Usually not. Most condition surveys are visual and non-intrusive. The report should list what could not be seen and where further tests, such as an electrical inspection, are needed.
Is it the same as a survey for buying a house?
No. A survey for a buyer advises one person on one purchase. A condition survey is for whoever looks after the building, to plan the work over the next few years.
Sources
Where the quotes come from.
The quoted grades and survey limits, and the summarised priorities, come from a condition report a council has published. The rest of this guide is our own practical advice.
- Condition report, Parkfield House, Paignton, prepared for Torbay Council by TDA Property Services Group, dated 13 April 2022, published with the council's committee papers.
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