The problem is, it all depends on what you're concentrating on whether you may or may not notice a suspect material. In the case I mentioned where we reported on it, I had been into the eaves storage space, and looked around at all the beams/principal rafters/ties and not given a second thought to the ashlar wall, as it was obvious that it was a flimsy separation wall. It wasn't until my colleague (i.e. boss who has alot more experience) said "have another look in there, what do you think?", hinting to the the ashlar wall, that I saw the big broken hole someone had made to fit the sink drainage in. I learned an important lesson that day, as I do most days I go anywhere on site rather than sitting at my desk with info coming via email. I also couldn't help but notice that when the roof light dripped on me there was a fairly obvious leak - the owner didn't look very happy when I pointed that out - not structural....
Basically, as I said, we do caveat our report with your suggestion, albeit in a slightly more professional manner. When you're doing a structural report your mind is focused on one thing - structure. If you had a chippy come around to look at a flat roof you wouldn't expect him to comment on the plumbing for your boiler in the room below...
Do you know that some idiots think that a structural survey covers everything, and that everything in the house will be fine if is isn't mentioned on the survey, oh wait, that is YOU!
