Sheet 03
How a condition is described, graded and dated
A grade is a shorthand. It is only worth reading when the sentence it stands for is printed next to it, and only comparable when the date it was taken on is printed too.
The sentence comes before the grade
Every row in a condition schedule begins as a sentence written on site. The sentence names four things: the element, the face of it that was read, what was found there, and how much of that face the finding covers. Only once those are written does a grade get attached.
Writing it in that order is a discipline rather than a preference. A grade chosen first tends to recruit the evidence that suits it; a sentence written first has to survive being read back on the next visit, when the same face is in front of the same surveyor and the words either still describe it or plainly do not.
Three grades, and what each one asserts
| Grade | What it asserts | What must accompany it |
|---|---|---|
| One | The element is doing its job, and was seen to be doing it. | The sentence, and the extent of the face read. |
| Two | The element is doing its job, and work has been identified that keeps it doing so. | The sentence, the work identified, and a period within which it is worth doing. |
| Three | Work is required for the element to go on doing its job. | The sentence, the work required, and what follows from leaving it. |
There is deliberately no fourth grade for an element that could not be reached. An ungraded row carries the reason instead, and an ungraded row is a more useful thing to hand to an owner than a grade quietly guessed from the ground.
Extent, date and the next visit
Extent is given as a fraction of the face that was read: two thirds of a seaward elevation, the lower four courses of a parapet, the first six metres of a return. A finding with no extent against it cannot be compared with the same finding a year later, because there is no way to tell whether the defect has spread or the surveyor has simply walked further.
The date and tide state travel with the grade for the same reason. A coastal face changes between visits in ways that have nothing to do with the fabric: a joint that was damp at nine in the morning on a spring tide may be dry at four in the afternoon on a neap, and a schedule that records only the word damp has recorded the hour rather than the building.
When the same property is surveyed again, the previous schedule is laid alongside the new one and the rows are matched by element and face. Rows that have moved are listed first, with both sentences printed, so a reader can see the change rather than take it on trust.