When it comes to making modifications on something like a party wall – a wall which is owned by more than one individual, often as a boundary – there’s a lot you have to consider. For example, hiring a party wall surveyor is going to be a mandatory part of the process.
But what does a third party wall surveyor do? How do they help when it comes to the whole process of being able to make these modifications to this wall? Let’s take a quick look at some of what they do and why it is relevant to you.
A Supervisory Role
Primarily, what you will find is that the third party wall surveyor acts as a supervisor for the surveyors which have been hired by both you and the adjoining owner.
See, here is the immediate problem. When you hire a party wall surveyor for both yourself and your adjoining owner, they tend to have quite a few arguments. As the entire process hinges on each surveyor working out the salary of the other, there tends to be quite a few domestic arguments about how correctly things have been built, what expenses are counted, things like that.
As you can probably tell, this will gradually get worse and worse as time goes on, until such a point as it has devolved into basically petty arguing.
Neutral Third Party
In the middle of this chaos, you do get the third party wall surveyor. They will be selected to manage and supervise the existing surveyors, providing a neutral standpoint and helping to resolve any disputes that might arise.
Basically, if you have a surveyor, and your adjourning owner has a surveyor, then you will need a third surveyor to supervise the first two and prevent arguments from getting in the way of getting the modifications to the party wall approved.
Yes, a third party wall surveyor will have their own costs, although this is usually split between both parties equally to make sure that there is no one party that is left financially out of pocket.
The more neutral presence of the third party wall surveyor is something which will help to maintain order during the proceedings. Because they do not have any vested interest in either side, they can render impartial judgements and help to prevent any fighting.
Final Thoughts
So, as you can probably tell, there are many reasons why you would need to have a third party wall surveyor introduced into the equation when it comes to getting on with the modification process. They serve a vital role of being able to make sure that you can get the modifications you need without having to worry.
Obviously, they will not be able to render a judgement in favour of either person using a vested interest, and will have to remain neutral for the sake of fair arbitration. They are definitely a required part of the process, in some cases being a legal pre-requisite for continuing.
If you’d like to discuss Third Surveyor procedures in a little more detail, give our team of experienced and qualified Party Wall Surveyors a call now, and we will be more than happy to assist you.
