ILFORD
THE PARTY WALL PEOPLE
We are expert party wall surveyors in Ilford. We can prepare and serve party wall notices,
we undertake schedules of condition and if required, produce and serve party wall awards (party wall agreements).
Our 100% 5-star rating on Google shows we take pride in our professional, personal and expert service
We hold membership with the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors (FPWS) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE)
We carry Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance.
The Party Wall People are based in Chelmsford, Essex and cover most of the southeast of England.
If you have any questions about the party wall act, please feel free to contact us for a free, no obligation chat.
SOME QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
If you are planning to build or renovate your property in Ilford and would like to involve a party wall surveyor to help you, a good question is - What does a Party Wall Surveyor do?
You should always instruct a surveyor who is certified ideally well before the proposed building works is planned to start. Once instructed a surveyor will likely undertake the following process:
-
Offer advice on the procedure, your obligations and responsibilities.
-
Review the works proposal which may involve a site inspection.
-
Prepare and serve the required Party Wall notices in line with the statutory procedure detailed in the Party Wall Act
-
Conduct a site visit and prepare a schedule of condition of neighbouring property prior to works
-
Act if there is a dispute between the building owner and the adjoining owner
-
Meet with the adjoining owner’s surveyor if required
-
If there are no objections to the work from adjoining owners, the surveyor will then prepare and serve the Party Wall Award.
If you fail to appoint a qualified party wall surveyor and attempt to serve notice yourself, you can end up spending more money down the line if the notices are incorrectly issues and need to be corrected. In our experience self-filed notices are often incorrect in some way.
Another good question is -
What will a party wall surveyor cost?
If you are the Building Owner you can expect to cover the following costs in line with the Act:
-
The appointment of your surveyor
-
If your neighbours appoint a surveyor you will pay for their costs too
-
Allow for the cost of any damage caused to the neighbouring property as a result of your building works (The likelihood of this arising is minimised with thorough planning & professional contracts.)
Contact us now for a free consultation
YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING
CAN I START WITHOUT A PARTY WALL AWARD?
You can’t start any of the notifiable works without a consent from your neighbour or until a Party Wall Award has been served. However, you may be able to do some works related to the project which have been approved by planning approval for example. Lots of people serve the notices and even get an award in place before planning is approved to save time.
WHO WILL PAY THE FEES?
Most of the time, the Surveyors fees are covered by the Building Owner. The cost of two different surveyors will usually be higher than that of an Agreed Surveyor. It is worth knowing that the time to agree the Party Wall Award might also be longer.
CAN I JUST SERVE MY OWN PARTY WALL NOTICE?
Yes, you are able to produce and serve your own notices… But if they are served incorrectly they are invalid, and you will need to start all over again which could delay the start of your project. Having this done early on by a Party Wall Surveyor will deal with this potential risk.
DO I NEED PERMISSION TO PUT UP A SHELF OR MOVE AN ELECTRICAL SOCKET?
This sort of work would be considered to be minor and such works would not need to be notified under the Act.
WHAT ABOUT A TIMBER FENCE - IS THAT A PARTY WALL?
No, although references are sometimes made to shared or 'party fences'. These do not fall under the Act..
WHEN DO I NEED TO NOTIFY MY NEIGHBOURS?
Timing is really important, so reviewing your project with a Party Wall Surveyor to run through your project and check if any elements will require serving notice removes stress from the project early on, allowing you to concentrate on the rest of the job. We would recommend getting in touch as soon as a planning application has been submitted, if you intend to begin works promptly.
CAN MY NEIGHBOUR STOP MY PROJECT?
Your neighbour can’t stop you carrying out the project by not responding within the required timeframe. If this happens then the Act allows you to appoint another Surveyor on their behalf so that a Party Wall Award can be served. You can’t have an Agreed Surveyor in this scenario.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS IF I DON’T SERVE A NOTICE?
It is illegal to begin any notifiable works without a notice. Your neighbour has the right to serve an injunction and stop the work.
If you have done some work which might hinder your neighbour’s ability to have a project of their own, without serving the correct notice, you will be liable to compensate for any remediation or damages caused under common law. You will have to cover the cost for undoing this work and any related design fees.
CAN THE ACT BE USED TO LOCATE A BOUNDARY?
No, The Act is not the tool to resolve boundary disputes and party wall surveyors have no powers to do so… The Act cannot be applied until a boundary dispute is resolved. In the case of a section 6 notice, which deals with excavations within a certain distance of the adjoining owner's property, the boundary location is irrelevant.