Experienced party wall surveyors

A party wall surveyor acts as an independent person between two property owners when a dispute arises between two property owners. Party wall surveyors can be appointed to act for both parties to a dispute, or each party can appoint their own party wall surveyor.

The building owner who wants to undertake building work will typically be responsible for the fees of the appointed surveyor(s).

You will need to serve a party wall notice if the proposed building work involves excavating or digging, within 3 metres of a neighbour's structure, where those excavations extend below the underside of the foundations of their structures.

Other types of building works that will need a notice to be served include; underpinning a shared (party) wall to form a basement, raising the wall to create an extension, removing chimney breasts and internal walls from the party wall, or cutting into the party wall or fence for any reason. You will also need to serve a notice to your neighbour if you are planning on replacing existing boundary fences with new walls.

You can serve the notice yourself using templates available online, but we would always recommend you get in touch with an experienced party wall surveyor to make sure the notices are correct and are served on your neighbour in the right way. Ideally, a party wall surveyor should be contacted at the point of designing your new property or alterations. They will make sure that your proposed extension or building works are permitted under the Act and that all relevant parties are notified of the works.

Once notices have been served, your neighbours can agree to the works, or dispute it and appoint their own surveyor. They can also concur in the appointment of the building owner’s surveyor. The appointed surveyor(s) will then work agree the time and manner in which the works must be undertaken.

This will help minimise the risk of damage to neighbouring properties and ensure that necessary inconvenience to the neighbours is minimised. A condition survey of the neighbour's property will also be prepared and agreed on by the surveyors and referred to if there is a neighbour raise a claim for damage in the future.

Serving a party wall notice can take time if it is a complex project so we would always recommend consulting with a party wall surveyor when designing your project. Early discussions about your plans can help avoid costly design revisions later in the project as many proposals need to be changed to meet the requirements of the Act.

Your party wall surveyor will review information such as method statements and engineering proposals to better understand the extent of the notifiable works and temporary works designs to ensure that the notices are served correctly on your neighbours and that the awards cover all relevant aspects of the works.

You should only appoint an experienced professional party wall surveyor to make sure your project goes ahead with any issues. Working with a surveyor means you avoid making any mistakes when serving notice and that you act within the legal limitations of the act. That includes making sure your works do not result in any permanent trespass or other issues that might result in a legal claim against you. In the event that a dispute arises, following the serving of notices, it is a legal requirement to appoint a surveyor to resolve the matters.