Party Wall [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

Martin666_2

Hi

I’m in the process of building an extension and I received a notice from a party wall firm assigned by my neighbour demanding exorbitant fees for preparing an award.

My neighbour received an unsolicited letter from this firm of surveyors who trawl the councils sending letters to neighbours of people looking to extend.

This firm is 60 miles away from my development and are demanding £550 + vat + expenses per visit and it’ll require 2 visits (so they say). My local surveyor has quoted £500 all in!

The latest letter from them states that section 10(2) of the act says they cannot be dismissed and if I do not agree to this within 10 days, the fees will go up. It also states that if I appoint my own surveyor, their fees will also go up.

[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

My neighbour was horrified to hear this and told she’d be happy to dismiss them, but I can’t seem to find anything to contradict when they’re telling me see “section 10(2)” above.

[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

Thanks

iamcornholio

[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

Firstly check if the PWA actually applies

If it does it is you who should serve notice on the neighbour, and this [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] firm has no business getting involved until formally appointed following the serving of the notice.

If they have been properly instructed, then you pay their fees. If your surveyor (not you) feels that the fees are excessive and can't agree reasonable fees, then they can always appoint a third surveyor to arbitrate - but then you pay his fees too.

If the fees are deemed extortionate, then don't pay and let them take you to court - where reasonable fees will be set

You could always come to a private agreement with the neighbour and ignore the PWA

Hopeful_5

[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] Having building work done is stressful enough with this added aggravation.

I found the info below on the RICS website. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]
I do hope you can find a resonable solution to this. Good Luck

Hope

An Adjoining Owner is not happy with the Surveyor appointed for them
and wants to dis-instruct them. Can they do so?
(A) No. Under Section 10(5), the only way a Surveyor appointed under the Party
Wall Act can be replaced is if he dies or becomes incapable of acting. The
first option is best avoided and the second is sometimes necessary because
of illness, lack of availability due to holidays etc. An owner cannot “sack” his
Surveyor. The reason for this is that an objecting Adjoining Owner could

frustrate the process by hiring and firing Surveyors throughout the procedure.

http://www.rics.org/site/download_feed.aspx?fileID=179&fileExtension=PDF

dkmax_2

iamcornholio wrote: »

Firstly check if the PWA actually applies

If it does it is you who should serve notice on the neighbour, and this [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] firm has no business getting involved until formally appointed following the serving of the notice.
...
You could always come to a private agreement with the neighbour and ignore the PWA

Good advice.

Martin666_2

Thanks for the replies. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] I just checked and they are not RICS members and I see why now.

My neighbor has instructed them to act (out of naivety) but if we "ignore" [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM], surely they'll come after myself or the neighbor for the fees incurred so far?

The way I feel right now I'd like to see them in court, but then I guess I bear the costs even if a lower fee is imposed.

Thanks

dkmax_2

Martin666 wrote: »

My neighbor has instructed them to act (out of naivety) but if we "ignore" [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM], surely they'll come after myself or the neighbor for the fees incurred so far?

Follow the advice already given by iamcornholio. You should familiarise yourself with the PWA and then ask yourself if applies to your circumstances.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/partywall

If the PWA does not apply then there is no problem.

If it does apply then follow the normal process - talk to your neighbour, tell them what you are going to do, give them some time to think about it and if there is no dispute then just get this in writing. Even if she cannot dismiss the surveyor, they cannot act if there is no dispute. Just send them a copy of the agreement and all should be fine.

If there is a dispute, then you need to follow the dispute process. I would agree with iamcornholio that as these guys have preempted the correct procedure then there is a big question mark over the validity of their status. A little legal help would be recommended at this point as the arguments might be fraught with difficulty.

paddy's_mum

I'm not an expert by any means but surely, in the context of the Act, they (TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM) have not been appointed by the 'constructing owner' and therefore, no matter how innocent or naive your neighbour, YOU have no obligation whatever towards them.

As I understand it, your neighbour has an over-riding obligation to liaise with you, so that agreements satisfactory to both parties can be reached long, long before any outside touting party comes into the picture ?

My understanding of the intention of the Act was to avoid disputes, not foment them.

slummymummyof3

Firstly, has the extension started? Are you out of the ground? The PWA cannot be done retrospectively - so if you have already excavated etc and have done all your groundworks and are up to dpc etc; job done! That is where the PWA would stop.

What are the works? Are you building to the line of junction with foundations projecting under your neighbours land? How close are the works to the adjoining owners property?

Have you issued the adjoining owner with a Party Wall notice describing the intended works? Have they dissented from the works?

WhiteHorse

The advice on here so far is good, so I won't repeat it. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] Just take the advice on the forum, and above all, don't be intimidated or lose your cool.

panchenlama

I had the same problem. Told both neighbours I was building an extension about a year before I started. They both have the same one on thier houses.

when I eventually set a date to start I provided them with a letter with plans and chatted it through. They both said they were ok with it verbally.

submitted apps for building regs (didn;t need planning) and then both neighbours had a letter from these scumbags. The letter was trying to scare them into using them.

One neighbour ignored it, the other decided to sign the documents they sent them (they said they wouldn;t have to pay a bean and that I would cough for all costs). Letters started to arrive from this tinpot bunch os scum.

I sent a letter back to them saying I had changed my mind and was not building the extension and had a chat with the neighbour to tell them that I was not going to engage with them.

They sent them a letter saying that there was nothing elese they could do to engage with me as I had said the job was not going ahead. Advised them to take legal action against me.

Neighbour checked his home insurance legal line who told him to take photos and if there was damage to his property to raise a claim.

building has been up for six months now and no problems.

ironically I actually changed the plans in the end to come away from the 3rd party wall and as the foundations did not exceed thiers in depth I didn;t need thier permission anyway.

what annoyed me most was the neighbour who said one thing to my face but did another behind closed doors. nowt as queer as folk.

still, f*ck em. that's what I say...

all this red tape just adds costs and keeps a bunch of timewasters in work.

kmmr

I foolishly nominated them as my PW Surveyors, without doing a simple google search first! Thankfully the neighbours place is managed by a wonderful group of surveyors (the flat seems to be part of some massive portfolio) who I dealt with direct after a complicated process [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM].

Once I had signed, suddenly their (very rude) surveyor wasn't available for a month, and refused to speak civily to the neighbours. They stated I objected to things that I didn't, just to try and create conflict. I made it clear that I was willing to do whatever the neighbours felt was fair, but they just stirred and stirred, and annoyed everyone within minutes!

So, I managed to cancel the agreement, but had to pay the fees anyway. Something like £800 for about 2 answered phone calls, and some crazy photocopying charges! Maybe they pay someone £100k to listen to all the voice mails that you are forced to leave as you can't get in touch with anyone. An agreement with made neighbours, and an informal summary was prepared for about £500, which included 3 parties (next door leaseholder, freeholder, and one more flat that was impacted upstairs).

Anyway, this firm, [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] are terrible. Don't be tempted, and please please don't sign the paperwork if it 'costs you nothing' as you will make your neighbours life a misery, and will just create a fight where one does not need to exist.