How Much Does a Party Wall Surveyor Cost?

How Much Does a Party Wall Surveyor Cost?

There are numerous variables which impact the cost of a Party Wall Surveyor. It is worth discussing the various costs and liability etc. with the commercial building surveyor/party wall surveyor that you engage. 

The cost to engage party wall surveyor will typically be in the region of £1,500-£2,000 excluding VAT for a relatively standard Award. As the Building Owner will normally be required to pay for an Adjoining Owners party wall surveyors fees, then an allowance of £1,500-£2,000 should also be made for every Adjoining Owner. Large and more complex Party Wall Awards can cost in the region of £20k plus. 

It must be noted that sometimes Adjoining Owners will engage the same surveyor to act on their behalf and this can greatly assist with the time and cost of agreeing Awards, as the party wall surveyor acting on behalf of the Building Owner (entity undertaking the works) may only need to negotiate and agree an Award with a small number of party wall surveyors acting on behalf of the Adjoining Owners and the Award can be replicated for each respective party. 

Extent of Works 

The first thing that will need to reviewed when assessing the cost of engaging a party wall surveyor is the scope of the works which will fall under the Party Wall Act. It is imperative that the party wall surveyor/commercial building surveyor who is acting in the role identifies the works which will form part of the Party Wall Award as they will not be required to serve notices etc. regarding works which fall outside of this. 

It may be that you engage the surveyor to undertake different/other services in relation to the works, such as schedules of condition, technical due diligence etc. although the appointment of these services should be separate to that of the party wall surveyor appointment. 

Once the scope of works has been identified it may be necessary to engage other specialist consultants to assist with the Party Wall Award. Most typically, a structural engineer will be required to input on structural design and condition etc. There may be requirements for other consultants although this should be assessed by the Party Wall Surveyor at the outset. 

The complexity and size of the project will also greatly impact the cost as if the works are relatively simple in nature, for example cutting a new flashing detail in a party wall owing to a new roof abutment then the timescales are likely to be short and information/design requirements are likely to be straightforward and non-contentious. A complex project may have a construction phase of 12-24 months requiring numerous interim inspections and a significant amount of design information to be agreed prior to finalising the Award.  

Number of Adjoining Owners

The second issue to consider is the number of Adjoining Owners. An Adjoining Owner is any Party which are impacted by the Party Wall works (relevant works as outlined under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996). An Adjoining Owner needs to have an interest in the property of 1 year or more. 

For large/extension works/sites a party wall surveyor will need to accurately identify all the Adjoining Owners. If the site borders numerous properties, then each of those Adjoining Owners will need to be served with notices and a separate award agreed between each party. In large schemes this could lead to a significant number of Awards. 

Even on smaller sites there can be numerous Adjoining Owners. For example, a single unit could have a Landlord, Tenant (with a lease of 20 years), sub-Tenant (with a year of 5 years) etc. This scenario would mean that this single unit has 3 Adjoining Owners and therefore 3 separate Party Wall Awards will need to be agreed.

Who pays for a Party Wall Agreement?

Typically, the party undertaking the works (called the Building Owner) will be responsible for paying for all costs in association with drafting and agreeing the Award. This will mean that the Building Owner is responsible for paying the costs of any party wall surveyor, structural engineer etc. who the Adjoining Owner engages to assist them. Costs should be agreed at the outset and the final agreed fee should be included in the Party Wall Award, inclusive of commentary on agreed hourly rates should further works be required. 

When works are being undertaken to a party structure which are required to be undertaken on behalf of both parties, such as a repair to a party structure, then the costs should be split between both parties with the respective parties paying their own party wall surveyors fees. 

At Commercial Building Surveyors, we offer Party Wall Award Surveys in the following locations: Party Wall Surveyor Bristol, Party Wall Surveyor Manchester, Party Wall Surveyor Birmingham & Party Wall Surveyor London.