Party Walls

The first step to take is to determine whether your proposals fall under the Act. We would be pleased to

The first step to take is to determine whether your proposals fall under the Act. We would be pleased to offer preliminary guidance on this matter. If indeed they do, then the Building Owner should appoint a surveyor to serve the relevant notices. Since these have statutory time periods attached, it is advisable to complete the party wall issues well before the intended start date.

The party wall surveyor is not appointed on a normal client/consultant basis. It is a quasi-judicial appointment, and thus the building owner is termed ‘appointing owner’. The surveyor is bound to Act impartially to both building and adjoining owner. As such the building owners surveyor can also be appointed by the adjoining owner, and thus becomes the ‘Agreed Surveyor’. The adjoining owner may however choose to appoint there own surveyor, and in such a scenario, the building owner is normally responsible for their fees.

There can be situations where there are multiple adjoining owners, as leaseholders with an interest of over 12 months are also counted as owners. Even with an adjoining house, split into two flats, there could potentially be three adjoining owners; two leaseholders and the freeholder. The building owner could thus become liable for four sets of surveyor's fees.