In this week’s Party Wall Property Surveying blogpost, we are going to be discussing Third Surveyor Party Wall Referrals, and when an Owner, or Surveyor, should consider making a referral to a Third Party Wall Surveyor in accordance with Section 10 of the Party Wall etc 1996.
If you are reading this blogpost, this it is likely you are a Building Owner or Adjoining Owner, and have found yourself in some form of dispute, minor to major, in respect of the Party Wall matter that you are a party to.
Providing that there are two respective Party Wall Surveyors onboard, or otherwise referred to as appointed, there would be a Third Surveyor selected, at the start of the Party Wall Surveying exchanges, with that Third Surveyor’s role effectively being to mediate and resolve, any disputes in respect of the Party Wall etc Act 1996.
In effect, this means that should the two Surveyors, or any combination of Owner and to respective Surveyors, find themselves in a dispute, then the person to whom disagrees with the outcome of that dispute, has the legal right to refer the matter to a Third Surveyor, for him to effectively review and formally resolve it.
The Third Surveyors role would be to hear arguments from both sides of the dispute, and then formulate his own formal outcome, which is usually documented in a Third Surveyor Report.
Third Surveyor referrals are not without risk and cost, and effectively once a referral is made, the respective Owners, yes that’s right, only the Owners, will be legally liable, for not only the Third Surveyor’s determination fee, but also the two respective Surveyors’ time in preparing and submitting their referrals.
If you are a party to a dispute, and would like to get some advice from a team of impartial and qualified Party Wall Surveyors, give us a call now, and we will be more than happy to assist you.
