Party Wall Surveyor’s Fees

Party Wall Act explained and costed

Party Wall Surveyor’s fees are the forgotten cost of home improvements. If you are planning to undertake a building project such as a loft conversion, basement conversion or an extension and live in a built-up area the work is likely to fall within the scope of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996   

Your obligations

Under the Act you are obliged to serve notice on any neighbours that are likely to be affected by the works giving them 14 days to consent. Should your neighbour decide not to consent then you are deemed to be ‘in dispute’ and must each appoint a Party Wall Surveyor.

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Choosing a Surveyor

As the building owner you have complete freedom to choose which surveyor you want to appoint, there are no required qualifications although a technical qualification would be desirable. You are likely to be quoted either an hourly rate or, on straightforward projects, a fixed fee. It is not always the case that smaller firms charge less as a one man band will have to do all the work himself, including the administrative tasks, and all at surveyor’s rates. You should also try and appoint a local surveyor to limit the travelling time charged as a minimum of two visits to site will be required

It will be up to the adjoining owner to choose whether to appoint their own surveyor or concur in your choice. The Act allows the respective owners to appoint the same surveyor as ‘Agreed’ and this is the simplest way to keep the fees down; particularly on smaller projects. Although it would be a breach of the Act to put any pressure on an adjoining owner to agree in your choice of surveyor you can influence their decision by your actions and the most important thing that you can do is provide sufficient information.

The first your neighbours know about you planned work shouldn’t be when the notice lands on their mat. Call to see them as soon as you know that the work will go ahead and tell them about your plans. Assure them that you will provide a copy of the drawings as soon as they are available. Deliver the party wall notice to them personally and in plenty of time and give them some information about your surveyor’s qualifications and experience. If they feel that their interests are being considered they will be more likely to choose the ‘Agreed Surveyor’ route.

Surveyor’s fees

Should your neighbour insist upon their own surveyor the fees move beyond your control. Your neighbour’s surveyor will not be obliged to state a fee before they are appointed and you will have no veto over your neighbour’s choice of surveyor. In fact, your neighbour’s surveyor will probably not state a fee until the majority of the work is complete and the award is agreed. Although the process must work in this way, to prevent you from thwarting your neighbour’s choice of surveyor, it is not surprising that the adjoining owner’s fee is often significantly higher than that of your surveyor. The only guidance offered by the Act is to state that fees should be ‘reasonable’.

Unreasonable fees can be challenged although time constraints usually mean that they are not. When two surveyors are appointed their first act should be to select a Third Surveyor to resolve any disputes. Your surveyor can refer an unreasonable fee to the Third Surveyor who will make a judgement. The trouble with this process is that it takes time, normally two weeks or more, and you may not be able to delay the start of the works while you wait for a judgement. The key here is to get the party wall procedures under way early so that if you need to challenge a fee there will be time to do it.

The surveyor’s actual fee will be calculated at an hourly rate based on the time spend preparing the award with an allowance for at least one future visit. If you are quoted a fixed fee the time will have been estimated. For a fairly common job, such as a loft conversion, a surveyor is likely to claim between 4-6 hours. More complex jobs, such as basement conversions, can take twice as long. The rate for surveyors is currently around £150-200 per hour plus VAT.

Additional visits will be charged at the hourly rate so if you are unfortunate enough to have a neighbour that thinks their surveyor should be involved in running the job for you, the fees will start to rack up pretty quickly. Although surveyor’s fees are generally paid by the party carrying out the works the Act states that it is for the surveyors to decide who pays. An adjoining owner should be given the bill for any unnecessary visits that they have requested.  

Justin Burns BSc MRICS of Peter Barry Party Wall Surveyors