Thank you for clicking on today’s property surveying blog post. Today we are going to be looking at party wall surveying procedures from the perspective of a party wall surveyor.
One of the most typical questions that we find ourselves being asked here at Stokemont, usually at the initial enquiry stage, is whether a building owner and adjoining owner can agree their own party wall agreement.
To put this question into context, a party wall agreement is the general publics phraseology for a Party Wall Award.
We have a number of blog posts on what a Party Wall Award is, and we would advise having a full read of these if you are unsure of the terminology.
To touch on this briefly, a Party Wall Award is a legal document which governs the planned construction works that fall within the realm of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996.
A Party Wall Award is the conclusive document that will be agreed by party wall surveyors, with those party wall surveyors acting on behalf of the building owner and the adjoining alike.
The purpose of the Party Wall Award is to provide the adjoining owner with legal cover and protection should there be any issue or damage resulting from the works. Furthermore, the Party Wall Award is in place to ensure that the building owner has the legal right to progress their planned construction works as per the Party Wall Etc Act 1996.
In order for a Party Wall Award to be agreed, party wall surveyors must be formally appointed under Section 10 of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996.
Section 10 of the Act confirms and sets out as follows:
Where a dispute arises or is deemed to have arisen between a building owner and an adjoining owner in respect of any matter connected with any work to which this Act relates either— (a) both parties shall concur in the appointment of one surveyor (in this section referred to as an “agreed surveyor”); or (b)each party shall appoint a surveyor and the two surveyors so appointed shall forthwith select a third surveyor (all of whom are in this section referred to as “the three surveyors”).
The key wording here, is that a “surveyor” has to be appointed in order for a Party Wall Award to be agreed.
In a nutshell, this means that unless there are party wall surveyors on board, a Party Wall Award is unable to be sufficiently agreed as that is one of the key requirements that the Act sets out.
The typical follow on question that we find ourselves being asked here at Stokemont, is whether a building owner or adjoining owner can act as their own party wall surveyors.
In acting as their own party wall surveyors, they would circumvent the Act’s formalities and give themselves the opportunity to agree their own Party Wall Awards without the need of an external party wall surveyor input.
Unfortunately, building owners and adjoining owners are unable to act as their own party wall surveyors. In order for a party wall surveyor to take on an appointment, the key point to bear in mind is that that party wall surveyor cannot be the building owner or adjoining owner. Instead, the party wall surveyor must be a person who is unrelated to the overall works as a whole.
In simple terms, this means that a building owner is unable to act as their own party wall surveyor. Equally, an adjoining owner is unable to act as their own party wall surveyor.
The party wall agreement, as set out above, is indeed a legal document. In being a legal document, as with any legal contract, it is commonplace for property professionals, or legal professionals for that matter, to prepare the agreement.
One key point to bear in mind however, and often looked at as a peculiarity or oversight within the Party Wall Etc Act 1996, is that anyone can refer to themselves as a party wall surveyor.
The Act’s definition of a party wall surveyor is set out as follows:
“surveyor” means any person not being a party to the matter appointed or selected under section 10 to determine disputes in accordance with the procedures set out in this Act.
In layman’s terms, what this means is that party wall surveyors are not legally required under law or statute, to hold any form of professional qualification, nor are they expected to have any form of experience.
This makes it an interesting position, as in many cases, there will be surveyors out there who refer to themselves as party wall surveyors.
However, those surveyors may not necessarily hold any professional qualifications that the general public, and building owners alike would expect of a property professional.
Here at Stokemont, we would advise that selection of a party wall surveyor is carefully considered. With such a clanger existing in the Party Wall Etc Act 1996, it is very easy for building owners or adjoining owners to assume that party wall surveyors, just as any other surveyor, would have necessary experience and qualification.
Party Wall Awards are ultimately the go-to legal document in the event of any legal issue. With this in mind, the premise and purpose of ensuring they are robust and legally valid, is absolutely key. The Party Wall Award will also offer the all important legal protection should there be any issue or damage.
This protection comes in the way of both the damage and making good requirements of the building owner. However, it also gives the building owner and adjoining owner all necessary cost protection should there be any damage or issue arising from the awarded party wall works.
If you would like to discuss party wall surveying procedures with our team of experienced and qualified party wall surveyors, we would advise giving us a shout today. We will be more than happy to assist and advise you.
We are also very proud to have an industry first, video FAQ which touches on some of the more typical party wall surveying questions that we find ourselves asked here at Stokemont by building owners and adjoining owners alike.
These are available on all our party wall surveying pages and sub-pages on our website.
