Most Party Wall matters are straightforward when handled with competence, pace and diplomacy. If your surveyor is creating friction, delay or unpredictability, you’re paying twice—once in fees and again in time. Here are three clear tells that your Party Wall surveyor may be the wrong fit—and how to course-correct before costs snowball.
1) No Fixed Fee for the Building Owner’s Side
The red flag: “We’ll bill hourly and see how it goes.”
Open-ended hourly billing can reward inefficiency and leave you second-guessing every email. While there are edge cases that justify time-charge (highly complex interfacing, multi-basement phases, prolonged third-surveyor referrals), most domestic schemes—lofts, extensions, chimney removals, standard excavations—are predictable enough to price upfront.
Why it matters:
- You can’t budget sensibly without a ceiling.
- Hourly ambiguity often leads to scope creep and fee shock.
- Fixed fees align incentives toward resolution, not drift.
What good looks like:
A clear brief, defined deliverables (valid Notices, liaison, Award drafting/agreeing, agreed number of checks), and a fixed fee with transparent add-on rates only if the brief genuinely changes.
2) Slow to Administer the Act or Move the Process Forward
The red flag: Drifting timelines, unanswered emails, missed statutory milestones, or “we’re waiting” with no documented chasers.
The Act is a procedure with clocks: Notices must be validly served; responses managed; surveyors appointed; an Award prepared and served. When a surveyor moves slowly, every downstream date—your contractor start, lead times —gets squeezed.
Why it matters:
- Delay = cost (contractor remobilisation, material price changes, expired approvals).
- Slow administration risks escalation to formal dispute when early engagement could have prevented it.
- Prolonged silence erodes neighbour trust and makes negotiation harder, not easier.
What good looks like:
- Early, valid Notice service (with proof).
- Proactive outreach to the Adjoining Owner/Surveyor.
- Documented requests under Section 10(6)/(7) where the other surveyor is neglecting to act, keeping the matter moving lawfully.
- Clear target dates and updates you don’t have to chase.
3) Not Working to Avoid Dispute—with Owners or Other Surveyors
The red flag: An adversarial tone as the default setting.
The Act is a dispute-resolution mechanism, but good surveyors practice dispute avoidance first. Diplomacy, proportionate safeguards, and evidence-led conditions keep neighbours on-side and the Award enforceable without being oppressive.
Why it matters:
- Aggression breeds counter-aggression—more letters, more time, more fees.
- Over-engineered conditions can be as harmful as under-protective ones; both invite challenge.
- A practical, even-handed Award is harder to appeal and easier to build under.
What good looks like:
- Calm, evidence-based explanations of risk and mitigation (e.g., hand tools for interface works, sensible working hours, clean access protocols).
- Early clarity on access needs under Section 8 so the contractor can actually build the flank wall safely and neatly.
- A professional relationship with the other surveyor focused on solutions, not point-scoring.
How Simple Survey Keeps It Reasonable (and Predictable)
Fixed, fair fees for common scenarios—so you can plan your budget and timeline with confidence:
- Party Wall Notice service: £25 per adjoining ownership (multi-notice bundles discounted)
- Act administration as Agreed Surveyor (single surveyor): typically £300 fixed-fee (depends on complexity and number of notices/owners)
- Two-surveyor route (we act for the Building Owner): fixed-fee proposals from £325 for our side (we work to keep your neighbour’s surveyor’s hourly fees reasonable and contained)
Why clients choose us
- RICS-qualified building surveyors with deep building-pathology expertise
- Procedure + pragmatism: valid Notices, proportionate Awards, practical access provisions
- Pace and communication: clear next steps, documented chasers, no black holes
- Neighbour-first diplomacy: fewer flare-ups, faster sign-off, smoother builds
Let’s steady the ship
Email your drawings to team@simplesurvey.co.uk. We’ll confirm what’s notifiable, quote a fixed fee, serve valid Notices, and drive a practical, fair Award—without the drama or the runaway bill.
Simple Survey — reasonable by design, rigorous where it counts.