It’s likely that you’ll need to serve party wall notice(s) on one or more of your neighbours if you’re carrying out notifiable building work on your home like a loft conversion or a house extension.
Furthermore, if you plan to do building work directly on the party wall, such as cutting into it for any reason, or perhaps removing a chimney breast, you must serve a Party Wall notice according to Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
Get in touch with one of our Essex party wall surveyors today if you need to carry out building work on your home and you’re not entirely sure if you need to serve notices or not, by calling 01702 888 805
By filling out the online form on this page, you’ll get a full itemized quote as well as a handy guide explaining what information is on the notices and what options your neighbours have.
We’ll also go over the potential financial impact each option may have on your party wall surveyors costs.
We write our quotations in plain english so they’re easy to understand.
The only thing we ask for is a small upfront payment of £35.00 per notice. This payment is to pay land registry for the ownership records and postage costs to send the notices out and send your neighbours a pre-paid envelope so it’s easy for them to respond.
You won’t have to pay again until your award is finalised and we can serve it on everyone.
So that’s it! A completely risk-free and hassle-free way to hire a Party Wall Surveyor in Essex.
There’s no hidden extras, no nasty surprises – just a friendly bunch of Party Wall Surveyors providing amazing value for the anyone in Essex needing help with Party Wall Matters.
Party Wall matters in Essex handled fairly and ethically, no tricks.
Essex Party Wall Surveyors offer services relating to all Party Wall Matters for a very low FIXED PRICE, which is what you’d expect from a company called Fixed Price Party Wall Ltd.
You’ll pay the same price regardless of your postcode or where in Essex you live – Everyone gets the same team of fixed price party wall surveyors – and everyone gets the same unbelievably low prices!
If you let us handle the party wall surveying for your project, you’ll save an average of £555 and £855.
Source:
According to Check a Trade, the UK average for a Party Wall surveyor acting on behalf of one building owner and one adjoining owner was between £1,200.00 and £1,500.00
We charge just £645.00 to act as an agreed surveyor for you and one neighbour – that’s less than HALF the average surveyors fee!
100% FIXED PRICES FOR PARTY WALL SURVEYOR IN ESSEX
You might need to serve party wall notices to your neighbors if you’re doing an extension.
First, you need to decide if you plan to do excavations (such as to dig foundations) within 3 metres of your neighbours’ house or other buildings (including outbuildings). If you are going deeper into the ground than their foundations, then you need to give your neighbours a notice under section 6 of the Party Wall Act. Act 1996.
If you’re building up to the boundary line (or straddling the boundary), you’ll need to serve a notice on your neighbors under section 1 of the Party Wall Act. Act 1996.
If there is an existing party fence wall along the boundary that you need to demolish and re-build to accommodate your extension, then you will need to let your neighbours know as per section 3 of the Party Wall etc Act. Act 1996.
Consider any other work you’re doing as part of the build. Under the Party Wall etc. Act, internal alterations to the party wall like removing a chimney breast would also have to be notified. Act 1996.
If you’re doing a loft conversion, it’s likely to require steel beams to be installed into the party walls to make room for the extra floor.
A typical loft conversion has 2 floor steels and a main ridge beam.
For these steels to be inserted into the party wall, you have to notify your neighbors per section 3 of the Party Wall etc. Act. Act 1996.
You would also need to notify your neighbour under section 3 of the Party Wall Act if you’re taking out chimney breasts.
The Party Wall Act generally doesn’t apply to internal work.
This rule only applies when the internal alterations involve the party wall itself.
If you’re going to cut into or away from the party wall, you need to give your neighbours notice in accordance with Section 3 of the Party Wall etc. Act. 1996.
Who pays the surveyors? In most cases, the building owner (pays the fees, or costs, because they are the ones doing the work, usually for their own benefit.
Under the Act, a party wall surveyor plays a key role in resolving disputes between neighbors. The party wall surveyor’s duty is to the Act rather than the individual who appointed them, so they can resolve disputes in a reasonable and sensible manner.
Check a Trade link here conducted a survey on this topic
The average cost of getting a party wall award is about £1,000.
You can enjoy fixed price party wall surveyor costs of around half the Essex average if you are one of the lucky ones who found Fixed Price Party Wall. Fees for party wall surveys in Essex begin at just £495.00.
To legally serve a party wall notice, do you need a party wall surveyor?
A party wall notice is a legal requirement, but it doesn’t have to be done by a party wall surveyor.
In the event that your neighbor disagrees with the notice, you will need to hire a Party Wall Surveyor.
If there is a dissent the Party Wall Surveyors will check the validity of the notices served and if they are deemed invalid then additional time will be spent by the surveyors in getting the basics corrected.
It can have a significant impact on your party wall surveyors’ fees, which is why we would always recommend having notices served by a professional.
It costs just £35.00 per neighbour to serve your notices, which includes all the land registry checks, as well as a prepaid envelope so that the neighbour can return their acknowledgment.
Let’s talk about party wall awards. What are they and how much do they cost?
We get asked a lot how much we should allocate for a party wall award when we complete jobs, and also if one is even necessary.
I just want to clarify, a party wall is a shared wall between two houses, plus any garden walls (not fences) built along a boundary line. Thus, notification is usually required for loft conversions and new foundations (for rear extensions).
Drafting of the Party Wall Award
When a neighbour disagrees, or indeed doesn’t respond within 14 days, the homeowner and neighbour can select a single surveyor to represent both of them (an Agreed Surveyor), or they can pick their own surveyors (Two Surveyors).
After the Party Wall Award is served, the building owner (the person doing the building work) will have 12 months to start the work.
A party wall notice is a written notice that you’re going to give your neighbours if you’re doing building work on the party wall, border, or neighboring excavation.
You’ll need to give your neighbors a Party Wall Notice to let them know the work you plan on doing either directly to the party wall (2 months written notice) or adjacent to the party wall (1 month written notice).
You can serve a party wall notice yourself.
In any case, we always recommend that you have your notices prepared and served professionally, as any indecencies found later could result in additional surveyors’ time to rectify.
The average hourly rate of a surveyor is £150.00 per hour, so even a minor discrepancy could far outweigh a modest outlay of £35.00 to have the notices served professionally.
Basically, a party wall is a wall separating and dividing two buildings or properties. Each owner has a partial right to use it.
This can include party fence walls (garden walls), but not fences.