Party Wall Surveyor Near Me

Party Wall Surveyors Fixed Price offer a fully independent and impartial service.  

If you have any issues with your property, our Party Wall Surveyors can help.  

Our Surveyors cover all of London, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent. We are also planning on opening an office in Surrey later this year.

Property owners who share a Party Wall usually hire a Party Wall Surveyor to help with the preparation and administration of a Party Wall Award or Agreement, under the Party Wall Act of 1996.  

Our Surveyors can provide impartial advice for either party regarding proposed structural changes or repairs, acting on behalf of the Building Owner or Adjacent Owner.  

Party Wall Surveyors carry a wealth of knowledge and experience and are always happy to help you.

If you or your neighbor are adding an extension, converting a loft, remodeling the inside, or building an outbuilding, you might fall under the Party Wall Act etc. of 1996.  

Party walls, stuff like that. It’s a pretty big deal in England and Wales.

These are designed to prevent construction disputes between neighbours before construction starts and provide a legal framework for settling disputes over party walls.  

The Act covers three types of ‘notifiable’ work, which fall under sections 1, 3 and 6 of the Party Wall Act.

Our Party Wall Surveyors can help if you’re planning any of the following:

• Building a wall at the boundary between two properties.  
• Cutting into the party wall (for instance to insert a steel beam).
• Cutting away from the party wall – for example a chimney breast.
• Demolishing and rebuilding a Party Wall or a Party Fence Wall.
• Building a new wall on  or astride the boundary.
• Excavating within 3m of your neighbours  building (includes garages and outbuildings  as well as main house).

Most of the time, the person doing the work (called the building owner) pays for the award preparation.

Including the adjoining owner’s surveyor if the work is just for the Building Owner.

That’s why it’s in your interest as the person doing the notifiable building work to ensure the Party Wall Act is followed and that the process runs smoothly.

A party wall surveyor is a key component of resolving disputes between neighbors.

Party wall surveyors answer to the Act rather than the people who hired them, and they resolve disputes in a reasonable way.

Surveyors will make sure the right notices are served.

The surveyor will also inspect the adjacent home and produce a schedule of conditions report.

After that, the surveyor(s) will prepare and serve a party wall agreement or Party Wall Award to all parties in line with the Party Wall Act.

According to a survey carried out by Check a Trade link here

The average cost of getting a party wall award is around £1,000.00  in England and Wales.

If you are one of the lucky ones who have found Fixed Price Party Wall then you will benfit from our very reasonable fixed price party wall surveying costs which  start from just £495.00

This is around half the costs of the everage Party Wall Surveyors costs up and down the land.  Whats more  our prices are Fixed, and our fees are provided up front and in a transparent manner making  us one of the most ethical Party Wall firms operating in the England.

You can get a fixed price quote from us  either by completing a contact form or by calling us on 01702 888 805.

What’s a party wall award and how much does it cost?

Clients usually ask us when they’re finishing jobs, how much it ought to cost for a party wall award, and if one is really required. 

The simple answer is that if you’re doing work on a shared wall, you have to give your neighbour notice. Furthermore, you need to give notice if excavations are within 3m of a neighbouring property and you’re likely to go deeper into the ground.

So, to be clear, a party wall is a shared wall between two neighbors, plus a garden wall (not a fence) that makes up a boundary. This means that loft conversions, new foundations (for rear extensions) usually need to be notified.

Drafting of the Party Wall Award

If a neighbour dissents, or indeed does not react within 14 days, the homeowner and neighbour can select a single party wall surveyor to represent both of them (an Agreed Surveyor) or they may prefer to each appoint their own surveyors (Two Surveyors). 

Following service of the Party Wall Award the building owner (the person carrying out the building operations) will then have 12 months in which to start the building works.

A party wall notifice is the written intent that you should give any Adjoining neighbours to inform them of building works that you intend on undertaking to a common party wall, boundary, or neighboring excavation.

There are three types of Party Wall Notice you may need to serve before starting any extensions or conversion or building works to your home, under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.

Depending on the work being done to your property or to the Party Wall, there are statutory notice periods that you must adhere to prior to commencing work and these periods are stated on each different notice type.

Notice Of Adjacent Excavation

If you are digging within 3 metres of your neighbour’s property and to a greater depth than their foundations, or if you are installing piled foundations within 6 metres of a neighbour’s property then you are required to serve an adjacent excavations notice on any affected neighbours in accordance with section 6 of the Party Wall etc. Act.  A section 6 notice  must be served no later than 1 month prior to commencement of the excavations.

Line Of Junction Notice

If you are looking to construct a new wall upto or astride the boundary then you  are obliged to serve a line of junction notice on your neighbour in accordance  with  Section 1 of the Act.   A Section 1 notice must be served no later than 1 month prior to commencement of the building operations.

Party Structure Notice 

If you are looking to carry out works to the Party Wall itself such as cutting into the party wall for the insertion of Steel Beams or  Weatherproofing such as  lead flashings then  you must serve a Party Structure Notice on your adjoining owner(s)  in  accordance  with Section 2 of The Party Wall etc. Act 1996.

A very important thing to note is that  notices served in accordance with Section 2 of the Party Wall Act need  to be served no less than 2  months prior to carrying out the proposed works.

A Party Wall Notice must be served on your neighbors to give them suitable notice of the works you intend to carry out either to the party wall directly (2 months written notice) or adjacent to the party wall (1 months written notice).  

Please read our paragraph above What is a Party Wall Notice  for more indepth information on notice periods for notices served under each section of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. 

There is nothing preventing you from serving a party wall notice yourself.

However we would always recommend that you have your notices produced and served professionally as any indescrepancies found in your notices further down the line could  take up additional party wall surveyors time to remedy.

With the average hour cost of a party wall surveyor being £150.00 even a minor discrepancy could far outweigh the modest outlay of £35.00 to have the notices served professionally. 

A party wall is a wall separating and common to two buildings or properties: each owner has a partial right in its use.

This can include party fence walls (garden walls) but excludes fences.

The Act covers three main types of work:.  

Construction along the boundary of two properties. Other notifiable works include cutting through walls separating terraced houses to insert beams for a loft conversion, excavating within 3 metres of a neighbour’s home for foundations, and building a flank wall for an extension.  

You may be entitled to compensation if you suffer a quantifiable loss due to works covered by the Party Wall Act (for example, if you run a business and people can’t get into your premises).  

Your neighbor must still follow normal health and safety laws as well as environmental protection laws, like keeping noise and vibrations to a minimum and working on time.  

Do I have to let my neighbor’s contractors on my property? Party Wall Act requires you to give your neighbour access to your land if they can’t complete their construction work any other way and they provide you with the necessary notice (usually 14 days except in the case of an emergency)

The access must be ‘necessary,’ so if there’s another way your neighbour can do the work, even if it’s a little more expensive, they should do it.  

Before any construction work begins, appointed surveyors can prepare a schedule of conditions pointing out the parts of the adjoining property that are at risk.

If damage results from the work, a schedule of condition will protect both parties from unfair or misleading claims.

Documents like this offer proof of the property’s condition before work begins, so any damage can be easily ascertained and put right.  

The surveyors will also prepare a party wall award to specify how work will be done. The award will cover working hours, access and safeguards to reduce the risk of damage.  

Is it possible to start building before the Award is finalised? No – or at least not the parts that are notifiable under the Act.

It can be tempting to start working before the award has been signed and served, but it would be unlawful.  

If everything is good, the surveyor(s) check off the Schedule of Conditions and close the file.

If damage is noted, the adjoining owner can have the building owner’s contractor do the repair or get a payment in lieu and use their own contractor.  

Fixed Price Party Wall has a team of experienced party wall surveyors, assistant surveyors, and party wall administrators to make sure everything runs smoothly.  

From our London office we cover the whole of the inner M25 area, so if you’re planning to undertake work that falls under the Act, or if you’ve received a notice of planned work that might affect your property, you’re welcome to contact us for some advice.