Hello and welcome to today’s property surveying blog post, where we are going to be discussing Party Wall Surveying matters, specifically in this blog post, I’m going to be taking a look at when a third Party Wall Surveyor is needed within the Party Wall process.
The use and appointment of a third Party Wall Surveyor is written within the Act, whose main role will be to act as a dispute regulator in cases where the Party Wall Surveyor of the parties involved, are incapable of coming to an agreement. So a third Party Wall Surveyor will only be needed during certain Party Wall matters where there are multiple surveyors that are involved, but generally, they will not be involved in most Party Wall cases.
Whether it is a requirement to appoint a third Party Wall Surveyor will all depend on what the initial response to the Party Wall Notice is. As If the initial response to Party Wall Notice is to consent to the Notice then they would be no need for a third Surveyor, or even any Surveyor for that matter.
If one is to accept the Party Wall Notice then the extent that a surveyor would generally be involved within the Party Wall Procedure is to draft and send the Party Wall Notice but beyond this, there would be no need for a Surveyor to have any input, never mind the need of input from a third Party Wall Surveyor.
Whereas if you were to dissent to the notice then this may require the use of a third Surveyor, but this will only be in the cases where you wish to appoint your own Surveyor instead of using the Surveyor of the building owners.
When you dissent to the Party Wall Notice you have two options available to you. One is to use the building owner’s Surveyor who will act on behalf of both parties involved throughout the Party Wall process, or, you are capable of appointing your own Party Wall Surveyor to act solely on your behalf.
Cases that involve the former will not require the use of a third Party Wall Surveyor as they would only be one surveyor involved who will oversee the Party Wall Process for all parties that are involved.
Whereas cases involving the latter, where each party has opted for the selection of their own surveyor, then a third Party Wall Surveyor will have to be selected in writing by the two Surveyors involved.
The role of the third Party Wall Surveyor is to act as a quasi arbitrator, who is there to act impartially for any disagreements that may occur between the building owners Surveyor and the adjoining owner’s Surveyor.
Most commonly if an issue was to arise between the two surveyors involved, this will come by way of deciding upon the Award. If the building owner’s Surveyor and the adjoining owner’s Surveyor are incapable of agreeing on the Party Wall Award then it would be down to the third Surveyor to decide on the Award independently from the other surveyors.
If one of the Surveyors involved refuses or disputes the appointment of a third surveyor or simply does not do so 10 days after it is requested, then an appointing officer will be responsible for the selection of a third surveyor. That appointing officer will be either someone from your local council’s legal department or from building control.
Generally speaking, most people will want to avoid the use third Party Wall Surveyor as the disputing party will be the one who is going to incur the cost associated with the third surveyor. So the third Surveyor may not even side with them when they make their decision but they will be responsible for the cost of the Surveyor.
I hope this gives you further insight into Party Wall Surveying matters and if you have any questions or queries that you would like to discuss in relation to Party Wall matters or any of the other surveying services that we offer here at Stokemont, then please do not hesitate to get in touch, or alternatively send us an email and we will be happy to assist and advise you.
