A limitation period is the time within which a claim must be started. Insurance Business, reporting a case from ITIC's claims review, summarises the Limitation Act 1980 for England and Wales: generally six years from the breach for a claim in contract, and six years from the damage, or from when it became known, for a claim in negligence. An expired period is a complete defence.
What a surveyor checks
How long to keep notes, photos, terms and reports. In the case reported, a claim of over $5 million was first presented nearly six years after the loss and failed on the time bar, after over $200,000 in legal costs. ITIC's claims director noted that the risk of a claim can remain for years.
In the report
Nothing goes in the report itself, but the report is the record that answers a late claim. Date every finding and photo, and keep the file for at least the limitation period where you work.