Module 6 · Reporting Skills
6.3 What to Include & What to Leave Out
7 min read
Beginner reports fail in two opposite directions: leaving out material that protects everyone, and including material that creates liability. This lesson covers both, with the general principle that anything you cannot support from your own evidence and competence should not be in the document.
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Identify what must appear in every damp report.
- Recognise material that creates liability without adding value.
- Handle cost, specification and blame questions appropriately.
- Keep the report inside the scope and competence it claims.
Key terms
- Scope creep
- The report drifting into areas the inspection did not cover and the surveyor is not qualified to assess.
- Speculation
- A statement about something not observed and not evidenced. Reads as fact and cannot be defended.
- Specification
- Detailed instruction on materials and methods. A design activity, not a survey finding.
- Attribution of fault
- Assigning responsibility to a person or organisation. A legal question, and rarely a surveyor's to answer.
Free — enrol to continue
Read the rest of Reporting Skills
Module 1 is open to everyone. The remaining six modules — building science, each damp mechanism in depth, meters and thermal imaging, the full inspection method, and report writing — are free too. We just ask for an email so you can pick up where you left off, and so we can send your certificate when you finish.