Party wall surveyor cost: party wall surveyor costs and party wall surveyor fees, how much does a party wall surveyor cost, who pays for a party wall surveyor, and whether a cheap party wall surveyor is a saving

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How party wall and building surveys works

1. Work out how many surveyors the job needs. The cheapest route is an agreed surveyor: one person appointed by both owners, one set of fees. Where the adjoining owner will not agree to that, each owner appoints their own and a third surveyor is selected to stand behind them, which is three appointments and a fee structure to match. Nothing about the building changes between those two routes, so the difference in cost is a matter of consent rather than construction.
2. Count the notices, not the hours. A notice is served on every adjoining owner, and a semi detached house with one neighbour is a different job from a terrace with owners on both sides and a flat above. Each adjoining owner who dissents brings their own appointment. Ask a quote to state how many adjoining owners it assumes before you compare it with another.
3. Ask whether a schedule of condition is included. Most awards are served with a photographic schedule of condition recording the adjoining property before work starts. It is the document that decides a damage argument afterwards, it takes a visit and a report to produce, and a quote that leaves it out is quoting for less paper rather than for less risk.
4. Read who pays before you sign anything. The Act generally puts the reasonable fees of both surveyors on the building owner, because the works are for the building owner's benefit. That is the default rather than a rule without exceptions, and an award will say what it decides on costs. An adjoining owner who is told they must pay to be protected should ask to see that in the award.
5. Treat a cheap fixed fee as a scope question. A fixed fee is a promise about scope, not about the building. Ask what happens when the design changes, when a second notice becomes necessary, or when the adjoining owner appoints separately after the first quote was given. A fee that cannot answer those is a fee that will be revisited.

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Common questions

Who pays for a party wall surveyor?

In most cases the building owner doing the works pays the reasonable fees of both surveyors, since the work is being done for their benefit. The award itself decides costs, and it can allocate them differently where an adjoining owner has caused unnecessary expense. Ask for the costs clause in writing rather than relying on the general position.

Is an agreed surveyor cheaper?

Almost always, because it is one appointment instead of two plus a third surveyor in reserve. It requires both owners to accept the same person, which is a question of trust rather than of price, and an adjoining owner who declines is exercising a right the Act gives them.

Do I need a surveyor at all?

Only if a notice is served and the adjoining owner does not consent to it in writing. Written consent inside the notice period ends the matter and no award is needed. A dissent, or silence, puts the Act's dispute procedure in motion and that procedure runs through surveyors.

Can I use the same surveyor as my neighbour's builder?

A surveyor appointed under the Act has a statutory role and cannot act as the building owner's agent in the same matter. If the person quoting is also designing or managing the works, ask them to say plainly which role they are taking, because the two cannot be held at once.

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