Property Survey Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the survey, dilapidations, compliance and building-defect terms property professionals use every day. Where a term has a free tool or guide, it links straight to it.

Surveys & reports

RICS Home Survey Standard: The RICS framework for residential surveys, offering three levels: Level 1 (Condition Report), Level 2 (HomeBuyer Report) and Level 3 (Building Survey), increasing in depth and detail.→ tool/guide
Condition rating (1, 2, 3): The RICS traffic-light rating applied to building elements: 1 = no repair currently needed; 2 = defects that should be repaired/replaced but are not serious or urgent; 3 = defects that are serious and/or need repair, replacement or investigation urgently.→ tool/guide
Snagging: The inspection of a new-build property to record defects ("snags") in workmanship or finish for the developer to rectify, typically before or shortly after completion.→ tool/guide
Schedule of condition: A factual record of the condition of a property at a point in time, usually with photographs, often attached to a lease to limit a tenant’s future repairing liability.
Inventory (check-in / check-out): A detailed record of the contents and condition of a rented property at the start and end of a tenancy, used to assess fair wear and tear and deposit deductions.

Dilapidations & leases

Dilapidations: Breaches of a tenant’s lease covenants relating to the condition of a property — typically repair, reinstatement and decoration — usually assessed at or near lease end.→ tool/guide
Schedule of dilapidations: An itemised list of a tenant’s alleged breaches of covenant with the remedial works and costs the landlord claims, served as interim (during the term) or terminal (at/after lease end).→ tool/guide
Scott Schedule: A tabular format for a dilapidations claim with columns for the landlord’s item and cost, the tenant’s response and cost, and the determination — widely used in dispute resolution and litigation.→ tool/guide
Section 18 cap: Under Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, damages for disrepair cannot exceed the diminution in the value of the landlord’s reversion — the "Section 18 cap" — which can limit a terminal dilapidations claim.
Reinstatement: The tenant’s obligation to return a property to its original layout/condition at lease end by removing alterations and partitions, where required by the lease or a licence for alterations.

Compliance & regulation

Decent Homes Standard: A minimum housing standard: a home is "decent" if it is free of HHSRS Category 1 hazards, in a reasonable state of repair, has reasonably modern facilities and provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 extends it to the private rented sector.→ tool/guide
Renters’ Rights Act 2025: UK legislation (Royal Assent 27 October 2025) that abolishes Section 21 no-fault evictions, applies a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, and extends Awaab’s Law to private tenancies, with main provisions expected from 2026.→ tool/guide
Awaab’s Law: A duty requiring landlords to investigate and remedy prescribed hazards — most prominently damp and mould — within fixed statutory timescales after a tenant reports them.→ tool/guide
HHSRS: The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (Housing Act 2004), a risk assessment of 29 potential hazards in dwellings. The most serious score band is "Category 1", which a local authority has a duty to act on.→ tool/guide
PAS 2035: The UK standard for the retrofit of domestic buildings for energy efficiency, defining the roles (including the Retrofit Coordinator and Assessor), risk paths and process for whole-house retrofit.→ tool/guide
Approved Document K: The Building Regulations guidance (England) for protection from falling, collision and impact — including stair geometry: rise, going, the 2R+G step rule and pitch.→ tool/guide
Approved Document F: The Building Regulations guidance (England) for ventilation, setting whole-dwelling ventilation rates and minimum intermittent extract rates for kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms and WCs.→ tool/guide

Defects & building pathology

BRE Digest 251: The Building Research Establishment guidance that classifies cracking in low-rise masonry into six categories of damage (0–5) by ease of repair, with crack width given only as a guide.→ tool/guide
Subsidence: The downward movement of the ground supporting a building (e.g. from clay shrinkage, leaking drains or trees), which can cause tapering, diagonal cracking — distinct from heave (upward movement) and settlement (early post-construction movement).→ tool/guide
Japanese knotweed: An invasive plant assessed for residential property under the RICS 2022 four-category management framework (A–D), based on proximity to structures, whether it is live or treated, and any damage.→ tool/guide
Interstitial condensation: Condensation that forms within the layers of a building element (rather than on its surface) when warm, moist air reaches its dew point inside the construction — assessed by the Glaser method (BS EN ISO 13788).
Damp-proof course (DPC): A barrier built into a wall (or injected) to stop rising damp from passing up from the ground into the structure.

Measurement & energy

GIA / GEA / NIA: RICS floor-area bases: Gross Internal Area (within the internal face of external walls), Gross External Area (to the outer face), and Net Internal Area (usable area, deducting stairs, WCs, plant and common parts).→ tool/guide
IPMS: The International Property Measurement Standards, a globally consistent set of measurement bases adopted by RICS to make floor areas comparable across countries.→ tool/guide
U-value: The rate of heat transfer through a building element (W/m²K); a lower U-value means better insulation. Calculated to BS EN ISO 6946.
EPC / MEES: The Energy Performance Certificate rates a building’s energy efficiency A–G; the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard requires a rented property to reach at least E, with a proposed move to C for rentals by 2030.→ tool/guide
Roof pitch: The angle of a roof slope to the horizontal, expressed in degrees, as a US "X-in-12" ratio, or as a 1:n ratio; pitch = arctan(rise ÷ run).→ tool/guide

Looking for a tool? See the free surveying calculators — crack, stair, roof, floor area, ventilation, knotweed and the Decent Homes readiness checker.