ÆANDREW EDWARD & CO.
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For adjoining owners

Their surveyor doesn't act for you.
You can appoint your own.

Section 10 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 gives every adjoining owner the right to appoint their own surveyor. And section 11 puts the reasonable cost of that on the building owner. It is one of the few places in English property law where the protection is free to the person who needs it.

An appointment under section 10(2) cannot be rescinded. Once you have appointed a surveyor, you cannot change your mind. Which is exactly why the choice deserves ten minutes rather than a tick in a box.

Speak to a party wall surveyorYour rights explained
The bit nobody mentions

You get one choice, and it is permanent.

Most adjoining owners assume that if their surveyor turns out to be unresponsive or unimpressive, they can find another. They cannot.

Section 10(2) is explicit: an appointment, once made, may not be rescinded by either party. The appointment survives your disappointment. It survives unreturned calls. It survives a schedule of condition you think is thin. The only exits are death, incapacity, or the surveyor declaring themselves unable to act. And a surveyor who is merely slow is none of those things.

We are not raising that to frighten anyone. We are raising it because the moment you are being asked to accept a name is the moment the decision is hardest to undo, and the letter in front of you will not have told you so.

Questions worth asking whoever you appoint

Ask us these too. If the answers are vague, keep looking, you only get to ask once.

  • What are your qualifications, and which professional body are you a member of?
  • Who personally will handle my matter, and can I speak to them today?
  • Will you inspect my property yourself, or send someone else?
  • What does your schedule of condition cover, inside, outside, and how many photographs?
  • Will you read the structural calculations, or only the notice?
  • Who is the third surveyor and how was he or she chosen?
  • What is your professional indemnity cover, and who is your redress scheme?
  • What happens if damage appears after the works finish?
The agreed surveyor

One surveyor for both of you. When that works, and when it doesn't.

An agreed surveyor is a single surveyor acting for both owners. It is entirely lawful, frequently sensible, and it is what your neighbour's side will usually propose.

The advantages are real: it is faster, simpler, and cheaper for the building owner. For modest works with low structural risk we often tell adjoining owners that it is a perfectly reasonable route and that appointing separately would be over-engineering the problem.

The reservations are equally real, and they compound. The agreed surveyor was found and proposed by the person doing the building, frequently before you were involved at all. There is no second surveyor to test their conclusions. There is no third surveyor to refer a disagreement to, because a referral under section 10(11) requires two appointed surveyors. And if you become unhappy, section 10(2) means you are staying put. Your only route is a county court appeal within 14 days of the Award.

Where we would not use an agreed surveyor

Basement excavation, underpinning, piling, works to listed or historic fabric, properties with a history of movement, and anything where the adjoining property is structurally unusual. In those cases the value of two independent professionals reading the same design is the protection you are being offered for free, and declining it to save your neighbour money is a poor trade.
Ask us whether you need your own surveyorRead your rights as an adjoining owner
The mechanics

How the appointment actually happens.

  1. You dissent to the notice

    Within 14 days
    A written response, an email is fine, saying that you dissent and that you appoint us as your surveyor. It does not need to be formal or unfriendly, and it does not need to explain itself.

  2. The appointment is made in writing

    Required by the Act
    Section 10(2) requires the appointment to be in writing. We prepare it and you sign it. From that point we are formally your appointed surveyor and we deal with the building owner's surveyor directly.

  3. The two surveyors select a third

    Before any dispute exists
    Chosen at the outset, while everyone is still reasonable. If the two appointed surveyors cannot later agree on any matter, it goes to the third surveyor for a binding determination, at no cost to you in the ordinary case.

  4. We inspect and review

    The substantive work
    Schedule of condition of your property, then the drawings, structural calculations, method statement and sequencing. This is where an appointment earns its keep.

  5. The Award is agreed and served

    Usually 2 to 4 weeks
    Binding on both owners. Your neighbour cannot lawfully begin the notifiable works until it has been served. Either owner may appeal to the county court within 14 days of service.

Appointing a surveyor, answered

Who pays for my surveyor?

The building owner, in the ordinary case. Section 11 makes them responsible for the costs of the works and for the reasonable surveying fees of both owners, because the works are for their benefit. Our fees are agreed with the building owner's surveyor and recorded in the Award. You are not asked for money, and we do not take card details from adjoining owners.

What if the building owner refuses to pay my surveyor's fees?

It is not their decision to make unilaterally. The Award determines who pays what, and the surveyors settle reasonable fees as part of agreeing it. If the two surveyors cannot agree on fees, that specific question goes to the third surveyor, whose determination is binding. In practice, refusals are usually posturing that resolves once the Award process is properly under way.

Can I change surveyor if I am unhappy?

No, and this is the point most people do not know when they make the choice. Section 10(2) provides that an appointment, once made, cannot be rescinded. If your appointed surveyor becomes ill, dies, or declares themselves incapable of acting, a replacement can be appointed. But you cannot simply sack them because you have lost confidence. Choose carefully the first time, because there is no second time.

Is my surveyor on my side?

Not in the sense of an advocate, and any firm promising otherwise is misdescribing the job. Once appointed, a party wall surveyor owes duties under the Act and must act impartially in producing an Award that is fair to both owners. What the appointment does give you is a qualified professional whose inspection is of your property, whose review of the structural design is done with your building in mind, and who has to be satisfied before the Award is agreed.

What is the third surveyor?

When the two appointed surveyors are chosen, they select a third surveyor at the outset, before there is anything to argue about. If they cannot agree on any matter, either surveyor, or either owner, can refer it to the third surveyor, whose determination is binding subject to appeal. It is a safety net, and it is why the two-surveyor route is stronger than a single agreed surveyor, where no such mechanism exists.

Do I need a surveyor if the works are minor?

Often not, and we will tell you so. If your neighbour is refixing to a shared wall or building a small shallow-founded extension well away from your house, an agreed surveyor or even a straightforward consent may be entirely sensible. We would rather give you ten minutes of honest advice than take an instruction you did not need.

Talk to the surveyor who would actually handle it.

Not a call handler, not a form. A party wall surveyor will tell you whether you need your own appointment, whether an agreed surveyor would do, and what it would cost you, which is normally nothing.

  • The building owner normally pays your surveyor's reasonable fees
  • A named surveyor on your case from start to finish
  • We will tell you honestly if you do not need us
Appoint us as your surveyorTalk to us first, freeor call 01174420259

No card details. No obligation. Nothing is final until you sign the appointment. A member of our office team reads every message, and a surveyor replies, usually within one working day.

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