We are going to be taking a look at the conventional charges that party wall surveyors will apply to party wall matters and property files they are appointed on.
Building Owner Surveyor Fees:
When a surveyor is appointed as a building owner’s surveyor, they will have conventionally have bid for the instruction directly to the client or the client’s architect in advance of party wall notice service.
This fee presentation process, or quote, usually involves reviewing the client’s drawings setting out the planned works. Assessing the number of the adjoining owners who are affected by the works and finally the expected complexity of the matter.
At this point, the surveyor would have usually submitted a fixed cost which is based off Notice response variables.
Industry wide, surveyor fees will differ, however these costs are likely to be in realm of the following.
Party Wall Notice Service:
These can range from being served for free, up to £250.00 per adjoining owner due a Notice.
Schedule of Condition Reports:
These can range from £200.00 up to £1,500.00 depending on the complexity of the works and size of adjoining owner(s) property or properties.
Party Wall Awards:
These can range from £400.00 up to £2,500.00 again depending on the complexity of the works and size of adjoining owner(s) property or properties.
In almost all cases, the building owner’s surveyor’s fees will be fixed, albeit the fee will be variable and based off the Notice response option that the adjoining owner, or owners select.
Agreed Surveyor Fees:
Much like a building owner’s surveyor’s fee, these will be fixed.
If the same surveyor who serves the Party Wall Notice, is then appointed as an agreed surveyor by the adjoining owner, or adjoining owners in response to the Notice. The building owner will have already been advised of what that fee will be.
With this fee having been presented to the building owner at the fee presentation stage.
However, if a building owner serves their own Notice via an architect, engineer, solicitor, contractor or themselves. With the adjoining owner dissenting to the Notice and appointing their own surveyor. The building owner can request for that same to surveyor to act as an agreed surveyor.
If this request and form of appointment is agreed to, at that point the surveyor will submit their fee for agreement. This will usually be fixed, however can also be variable.
Adjoining Owner Surveyor Fees:
Unlike the previous two options, adjoining owner surveyor fees are rarely fixed as generally speaking the surveyor will be unable to accurately estimate the time it will take to agree the Party Wall Award.
An adjoining owner surveyor’s fees will be based off the following considerations:
Hourly Rate:
These can range from under £100.00 up to £450.00 per hour.
The latter end of this scale usually applies to very senior and experienced surveyors.
Work Complexity:
The more complex the planned works, the more time a surveyor will spend on the file. This will result in a higher overall fee.
Smoothness of Agreement:
The smoother the Award is to agree with the building owner’s surveyor, the less time the adjoining owner’s surveyor will spend on the matter.
It is therefore important for a building owner’s surveyor to take steps to reduce the overall time the adjoining owner’s surveyor may spend.
This will include steps like:
Ensuring all information the adjoining owner’s surveyor is provided is clear, accurate and concise.
Minimising unnecessary discussion, while also taking into account the above step.
Ensuring their understanding and application of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 is robust, this will ensure point one above is applied.
Necessity to be Reasonable
For building owners learning that the adjoining owner’s surveyor is variable, can be a daunting revelation.
It’s important to bear in mind that any fee that the adjoining owner’s surveyor charges has to be deemed reasonable.
If for any reason the building owner, or building owner’s surveyor was of the belief that the fee was unreasonable, they would be within their rights to refer it to the third surveyor.
We have other articles which delve into the nuts and bolts of third surveyor referrals for further information on this topic.