Party Wall Surveyors

No nothing to do with parties. The walls you share with neighbours if you have a semi or terraced house.

I had never heard of party wall surveyors & it was a relative coincidence that I employed one. All of the houses I've done work to have been detached. My renovation & extension are permitted development & don't need planning permission. I knew I needed a structural engineer & architect. I did want a Certificate of Development, mainly for my daughter when she comes to sell the house. Obviously I have to comply with all Building Regulations.

The PWS serves the neighbour or neighbours with papers outlining what works are planned. In my case I had made the effort to speak personally to my neighbour to inform & reassure her. Apparently it didn't work, because she "dissented" which means she doesn't accept my plans & appointed her own PWS.

The main issue is a very old wall which was probably built around the time the house was to support a verandah. It now supports fully double glazed sun rooms to each property. The wall really isn't fit for purpose. It probably has no footings & there has been longstanding water ingress, which has blown the bricks on both sides. The neighbour & previous owner don't seem to have been too bothered about the very visible damage to the wall.

My extension was deliberately not going to be built on to this wall for obvious reasons. My architect had left a gap between the two. The neighbour objected & wanted the wall to be built further away from the party wall because she thought our footings might damage the wall. That's a judgement I'm not qualified to make, but I didn't want to loose any more interior space. The compromise we have agreed to is that we will build right next to the party wall, so the footings have to be closer to the party wall. 

I've just discovered from my PWS that;-

"Unfortunately, as you are the one wanting to do building work adjacent to that wall, you are responsible for the cost of supporting the wall if it requires further support.  You will be needing a new trench alongside the foundation to that wall.  If that foundation is not very deep, as suspected, you will undermine it with your new foundation and as such, will need to underpin it to support it.  If it can be  designed with an inbound foundation and a cantilevered slab, or just a slab thickening to build your new wall off the slab, the work can be done without disturbing the foundation to that wall.

As the Building Owner instigating the works, you will also be liable for all costs associated with agreeing and serving the Party Wall Award"   

Which means, I think, I have to pay for her PWS as well as my own. I'm also possibly going to have to sort out the lead flashing & gutter issues which cause water ingress & tie in my wall to the top of the party wall. 

This is not what my understanding of what the PWS involved was. I thought I would be responsible for ensuring any damage caused during the works is repaired. I expected the PWS to inspect the neighbours wall with the neighbour before work starts and take photos to avoid later disputes — for example existing cracks. In other words the neighbours rights would be protected, as would mine not to be asked to pay for something I didn't cause.

I really feel that this is imbalanced & unfair.  Given that the neighbour knew full well that there were issues with the wall & did not rectify them, I feel that she should at least share the cost.

If the situation were reversed I don't think I would have behaved in this way. Yes, I would have had concerns. But I would, in all honesty, have accepted that the issues were longstanding & I would have offered to pay at least half of the cost of putting them right. I would have ensured that the PWS took photos prior to building work starting to protect my rights against further damage solely caused by the building work & expected the neighbour to pay for that.

There was actually no need for the neighbour to appoint her own PWS. Most people who do this do it because they don't understand their rights & the protections they have in common law already. But if you choose to do it, then I feel you should pay for it. Usually both parties use just one surveyor (a good idea as it means only one set of fees).

So, to sum up I am very unhappy about this situation. It has been quite concerning & I feel it has coloured my relationship with my neighbour before I even move in. Frankly I feel used in quite a calculating way. However there is light, according to the Government website "Your neighbour may have to meet a share of the cost if the work needs to be done because of defects or lack of repair. They will also need to pay if they ask for additional works to be done that will benefit them." I'm just waiting to see what the "Award" or agreement says now.

So, dear reader, beware if you are planning any building work impinging on neighbours. There are pitfalls & costs that you could not possibly have anticipated.