This article will look at party wall surveyor fees.
Generally speaking, the cost of engaging a party wall surveyor typically varies from £120.00 to £350.00 per hour or a total of £800.00 to £2,500.00 as a total figure.
The exact fee will depend on factors such as;
Geographic Location: London based surveyor fees are higher as overheads are greater than those surveyors located out of London. Overheads consisting of travel costs, office rents/rates etc.
Project Complexity: The more complex the project from the perspective of the construction works, the higher the party wall surveying fees will be. This is a result of the surveyor, or surveyors having to spend a greater time on the project.
For example, a basement conversion will carry a higher party wall surveyor cost when compared to a loft conversion.
Surveyor Appointment Type: An agreed surveyor appointment offers far better economies of scale when compared to the appointment of two party wall surveyors.
An agreed surveyor appointment means that one party wall surveyor acts on behalf of both the building owner and adjoining owner.
A two party wall surveyor appointment means that one party wall surveyor acts on behalf the building owner and another for the adjoining owner.
How are they Calculated:
Hourly Rate: Party wall surveyors commonly charge an hourly rate ranging from £150.00 to £350.00.
Hourly rates tend to be applied to adjoining owner’s surveyor appointments as the general rule of thumb is the surveyor will not know the amount of time they will spend on the job, therefore cannot offer a fixed cost.
Fixed Fee: Party wall surveyors commonly charge a fixed fee or rate when they are taking on a file or instruction as a building owner’s surveyor.
Party wall surveyors tend to offer fixed fee starting at approximately £600.00 increasing to circa £1,900.00. As set out earlier within this article, expect the fees to rise along with the construction work complexity.
Further Party Wall Fees and Costs:
Valued Added Tax (VAT): The vast majority of party wall surveyor’s fees will be subject to VAT which at the time of writing this article is 20%.
Engineering Input: Construction projects that are complex or technical such as basement conversions will also likely give rise to the adjoining owner’s party wall surveyor requesting the input of an advising engineer.
The advising engineer’s fees will usually range from £600.00 to £3,000.00, again increasing upon the construction work complexity.
Damage: If the works result in damage to the adjoining owner’s property, further costs will arise and in most cases will be comparative the party wall surveyor costs and fees that would have been incurred at the outset.