In this week’s party wall surveying blogpost, we are going to discussing party wall surveying procedures and in particular the associated costs with a party wall surveyor undertaking and fulfilling their statutory duty as required by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
This is one of the most common questions we find ourselves asked here at Stokemont. A party wall surveyor’s costs are borne by the building owner undertaking the works.
In essence, this means that the adjoining owner will not be liable for any of the surveyor’s costs, the logic being that it would be unfair, or unreasonable, for an adjoining owner to bear the costs of a professional surveyor’s work, for works that do not benefit them.
The logic behind this is relatively sound, as if an adjoining owner was liable for costs, the reality is many wouldn’t be able to cover this, or may not particularly want to, and could instead find themselves a party to party wall matters where they haven’t properly consulted professional advice.
Party wall surveying costs are by far and large one of the largest type of issues that party wall surveyors deal with, and have disputes around. The reason behind this is in many cases there are different opinions on the level of what a reasonable surveyor’s costs should be, the type of time spent on a Party Wall Award, and overall the surveyor’s hourly rate or costs that surround their party wall matter.
While there is no off-the-shelf answer as to what a reasonable party wall surveyor’s costs should be, as a general rule of thumb, and as a general industry accepted rule of thumb, party wall surveyors should generally spend anywhere from about five to seven hours for a normal conventional Party Wall Award, this would generally be your straightforward loft conversion, rear extension, or side extension.
For those works that are more highly complex, such as basement excavations, underpinning or generally speaking, a structurally complex type of scenario, the party wall surveyor will likely spend more towards seven to 10 hours.
Party wall surveying costs are a hot topic at the best of times, therefore, if you are unsure about the party wall surveying procedures and costs and would like to discuss them with our team of qualified and experienced party wall surveyors here at Stokemont, give us a call today and we will be happy to assist.
