Help & Advice
Want to know more about the Party Wall Act? Then download this explanatory leaflet written by the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors. It is a simple guide for any building or adjoining owners that will be affected by works under the Party Wall Act.
We have highly experienced Party Wall Surveyors (members of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors) who can help you in a variety of ways. Often starting with an assessment of your proposed work to look at the risk, perhaps suggest ways that can be reduced, and advise on what Notices you may need to serve. Our Party Wall Risk & Applicability Assessment service costs £270, but that cost is offset against the cost of any Award you subsequently instruct us make for you in relation to the matter. This is because the initial work of risk assessment and advice is covered in our normal Party Wall Award fee anyway.
Building Owners
If you are the one proposing the work and you know you want to serve Notice, we can prepare and serve these for you, and if your neighbour dissents (thus requiring a Party Wall Award to be made) we can act for you either as “Agreed Surveyor” (jointly appointed by you and your neighbour) or as “Building Owner’s Surveyor” (appointed just by you, with a different surveyor being appointed by your neighbour, who’s cost you may also be required to pay – not in every case though). Our fee for this service depends on the project and what parts of the service you want us to undertake for you (i.e. preparation of Notices, condition survey etc.) Contact us for a quote.
Adjoining Owners
If your neighbour is undertaking a building project which may impact on you, they will probably be required to serve Notice on you in advance. If they have not then you may wish to consult us for advice. See the link below to our page for the standard advice we offer to adjoining owners. If you are concerned that works are going ahead without the necessary Notice having been issued, we can offer you advice as to what to do.
If you have received a Notice, and don’t want to consent to it or are unsure and need advice we can help. We can carry out a Party Wall Risk & Applicability Assessment for you, and you may well be able to recover the cost of that through either an Award or an informal party wall agreement with your neighbour. If an Award is necessary we can act for you either as “Agreed Surveyor” (jointly appointed by you and your neighbour) or as “Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor” (appointed just by you, with a different surveyor being appointed by your neighbour). In many 2-surveyor Awards, all fees are payable by the Building Owner, but this is not always the case (particularly in low-risk residential projects). If there were a risk of your being required to pay some of our fees, we would advise you in advance, and discuss ways those costs could be avoided.
www.bandsc.co.uk/what-should-you-do-upon-receipt-of-a-party-wall-notice/.