What does 'NI' (Not Inspected) mean on a Home Report — and when should you push back?

NI stands for Not Inspected. The surveyor was unable to inspect the element — usually because it was inaccessible (boarded over, under floorboards, behind furniture, in a roof space without safe access) or because conditions on the day prevented inspection (e.g. snow on the roof).

Critically: NI does NOT mean "no issue". It means the surveyor recorded no opinion. The element could be in perfect condition, or it could have a Cat 3 defect that nobody has looked at.

That distinction is the difference between a comfortable purchase and an unpleasant surprise during your first winter.

Most NI ratings have routine, reasonable explanations:

• Roof voids without safe access — no loft hatch, hatch was over a wardrobe with stored items, surveyor couldn't safely deploy a ladder.
• Sub-floor voids in suspended timber floors — no inspection hatch in the floor; surveyors won't lift floorboards.
• Furniture or storage blocking access — wardrobes against external walls, kitchen units against pipework, storage in the loft.
• Weather conditions on the inspection day — snow on the roof, very wet conditions making roof inspection unsafe.
• Boarded-up or inaccessible elements — pipes in service ducts, wiring behind plasterboard.

These are normal. Surveyors are constrained by safety, time, and what's physically accessible. An NI in these contexts is a fair record-keeping decision.

Some NIs are red flags. If you see any of these in the report, push back.

1. NI on the roof void with no explanation — roof voids are critical for spotting old leak damage, asbestos in storage tanks, electrical issues, and rodent activity. If the roof void wasn't inspected, the surveyor should explain why. Ask for a re-inspection if there was no good reason given.
2. NI on the sub-floor with active dampness on adjacent walls — sub-floor voids can hide rotted joists, plumbing leaks, and ventilation failures. If the surveyor noted damp on internal ground-floor walls but couldn't inspect the sub-floor, that's an open question.
3. NI on the consumer unit / electrical installation — if the wiring origin can't be inspected, the EICR rating is unverifiable. £200–£300 for an EICR can resolve this independently. See our rewiring cost guide for context.
4. NI on the gas installation — Gas Safe inspection should be commissioned independently if the surveyor couldn't inspect. £80–£120 for a Gas Safe certificate.
5. NI on flat roof areas — flat roofs are time-bombs. If a flat roof element couldn't be inspected, get it commissioned independently — £200–£400 for a specialist flat-roofer survey.

If your report has any of these, the appropriate response is not to ignore them. It's to ask the seller for access or to commission an independent inspection.

Re-inspection is a legitimate ask, especially in Scotland where the seller commissioned the original Home Report.

How to request it:

1. Write to the selling agent referencing the specific NI ratings and asking the seller to arrange access for re-inspection. Be specific: "the NI rating against item D6 (sub-floor void) on page 12".
2. Offer to pay for it yourself if the seller won't. Most surveyors charge £180–£300 for a focused re-inspection of a single element. This is a fraction of the financial risk if there's an undiagnosed problem.
3. In Scotland, you can also commission your own RICS Homebuyer Survey post-offer-acceptance, which the seller cannot block. £600–£1,400 for a 3-bed.

The seller refusing to allow access for re-inspection is itself a data point. Reasonable refusals (tenant in property, security concerns) are fine. Unreasonable refusals — where the inspection would simply reveal something — are a red flag.

One or two NI ratings are routine. Five or more starts to look like a property the surveyor wasn't able to fully assess.

NI clusters often correlate with:

• Hoarding or excess storage — property heavily stored, surveyor couldn't access elements
• Tenanted property — surveyors limited by tenant cooperation
• Distressed sale — seller may not have prepared the property for inspection
• Recently completed conversion or extension — surveyor unable to inspect concealed works

In all these cases, the appropriate response is to budget for the unknown or commission additional surveys before exchange. The cost of doing so is dwarfed by the cost of a hidden Cat 3 finding discovered six months in.

Go through every NI on your report against the "5 NIs that should worry you" section above. If the stated access reason is weak or the NI sits next to damp / electrics / gas, budget for a focused re-inspection (£180–£300) or an independent specialist rather than hoping it is fine.