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.