Expert party wall surveyor in Manchester & Cheshire  Call us NOW for an initial *free assessment to see if the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies to you. 

When do I need a Party Wall Surveyor or a Party Wall Agreement? 

 
You need to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor if your neighbour does not consent to the Party Wall Notice that you serve on them, at which point there will be a dispute that requires surveyors to make an Award. Most people will engage a surveyor to serve the initial notice for them but you can do this part yourself.  
 
 

Do I need to serve a party wall notice? 

You need to serve a party wall notice if you are excavating close to an adjoining owner's building or structure or doing work to an existing party wall. You also need to serve notice if you want to build on the boundary line. The 3 sections of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 that detail notifiable work are as follows: 
 
 
If you are proposing work under any of these sections of the Act then you are required to serve a party wall notice. 
 
Whilst you can serve these initial notices yourself without using a party wall surveyor, if you make mistakes, you could find that the process is invalid later down the line and you may need to start again from scratch. If you are unsure what is required then you should use the services of a party wall surveyor. Most errors are made by downloading templates off the internet and not completing them correctly. 
 
We can draft and serve the correct notices on your behalf for a nominal cost. This will prevent wasted time and possibly increased costs of the adjoining owner's surveyor dealing with an incorrect notice. 

Do I need to include drawings when I serve a party wall notice? 

Drawings are compulsory if you are serving a section 6 notice. However, any notice should really be served with the drawings you have had prepared for the work so that the adjoining owner can see exactly what it is you intend to do and then make an informed decision about consenting to the notice or not. 
 

What happens after a notice is served? 

When you serve a notice on an adjoining owner, they should respond within the first 14 days. If they respond by consenting to the notice then you can commence works without further communication as long as they have also waived the statutory notice period of 1 or 2 months depending on the type of notice. 
 
If they respond stating they are not consenting to the works or alternatively they do not respond at all, there is deemed to be a dispute which requires both parties to appoint either an agreed surveyor or a surveyor each who will then go on to make a Party Wall Award. 
 
party fence wall

What can I do when the adjoining owner ignores the notice? 

If the adjoining owner ignores the notice, there is automatically a deemed dispute after 14 days. You should then write to them again requesting that they appoint a party wall surveyor within 10 days or you will appoint a surveyor for them. If they ignore this 10 day request notice, you can then appoint a party wall surveyor on their behalf.  
 
You should note that this must be a separate surveyor than your own, in other words it cannot be one agreed surveyor. An agreed surveyor can only be appointed if both parties agree in writing to using an agreed surveyor. 
 

Can I insist on using an agreed surveyor? 

In the event of a dispute, it is down to the adjoining owner to agree to use an ‘agreed’ surveyor or decide that they want to appoint their own separate party wall surveyor. On larger works it is normal practice for the owners to appoint a separate surveyor each as this hopefully ensures that the procedure is followed properly and both parties interests are catered for. On small minor works it is appropriate for both parties to agree to appoint an agreed surveyor. 

Who pays the party wall surveyor fees? 

The building owner proposing the work is, under normal circumstances, responsible for the reasonable costs of the adjoining owner which includes their party wall surveyor fees and possibly an advising engineer appointed by them and any other reasonable costs. You may be able to agree a fixed fee with your own party wall surveyor but probably not with the other surveyor. However, you should also be wary about appointing your surveyor based only on the level of fees. As most things in life, cheap is not always good. 
 
You can read more about about party wall surveyor fees here 

What do party wall surveyors actually do? 

The agreed party wall surveyor or two surveyors make a party wall Award which is a document that is binding on both parties unless it is successfully appealed in the County Court within 14 days of being served on you.  
 
The Award will have copies of the drawings, normally a record of the condition of the adjoining property in case there is a claim of damage and it also sets out the rights and obligations of the owners. It may also contain method statements for more technical work. 
 
An Award can determine the right, time and manner of executing the work and any other matters arising out of or incidental to the dispute including the costs of making the Award. 
 
If damage is caused during or after the work, a party wall surveyor can determine if the damage has resulted from the works and assess an amount of compensation if the owners cannot agree an alternative remedy.  
 
Party wall surveyors also deal with Security for Expenses, if that has been requested, if the parties cannot agree on the requirement to provide security or the quantum.  
 
 
 

Why should you choose partywall.expert? 

You should choose me, Richard Johnson of partywall.expert, because I am a full time party wall surveyor based in Cheshire covering Manchester and all of the North West. You will receive an unrivalled service of pragmatic advice and help, throughout the process. You will be able to speak directly with me and if I am temporarily unavailable when you call, I will always call you back as soon as possible to attend to your query. You can also read my 5* reviews on Google here 
building owner|adjoining owners
I cannot recommend Richard and his team highly enough. We found Richard while we were undertaking a complex party wall application. We had a number of problems, including changed plans and a really high number of delays. 
 
Richard not only dealt with these calmly and high professionally, but he charged us an *extremely* fair price for the amount of (unexpected) work that ended up being involved. I would not think twice about recommending him to someone else who was in a similar situation. 
 
Kate Hardy- Extension & piling works, Didsbury 
 
 

What can I do once an Award has been made? 

Once an Award has been made and served on both owners you are free, subject to the statutory time limits , to begin work. You must comply with all obligations in the Award or else you will be in breach of the Award and the adjoining owner can take further action in respect of that breach. 
 
This can include legal action via the court which can include applying for an injunction and/or damages. 
 
The Award can be appealed by either owner at the County Court if they have reason. Appeals are expensive, so legal advice should be obtained first if you are considering that course of action. You only have 14 days to lodge an appeal. 
 
If you are looking for a party wall surveyor in Cheshire or a party wall surveyor in Manchester, information in general on party wall surveyor costs or fees 
 
CALL US RIGHT NOW FOR FURTHER HELP OR ADVICE ON PARTY WALL MATTERS.  
 
*Please note that this is only to assess if your work is governed by The Party Wall etc. Act 1996.  
 
For more information about the different types of notices and how we can help you: 

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