Party wall agreement can I use my neighbours surveyor too?

cfq1718

GR54 said:

For more detail on the above, see xxxx

Certainly an eye-opening article. I wish I'd seen this last week, but I served notice upon my neighbours at the weekend. 

GR54

You can attempt to share a surveyor, if you really feel a party wall award is required here.  But the neighbours, once you've served a notice, have the right to have a surveyor of their own, generally at your expense.  If they ignore your notice for 14 days, you serve them a ten day notice (requiring them to appoint a surveyor) and if they ignore that, you appoint one in their behalf.  But you have to have your own, different, surveyor.)  But note the words of Lord Justice Lewison, in the Appeal Court last year "a building owner may rely on his common law rights"(para 96).   And it sounds like your common law rights should be adequate.  Take no notice of unscrupulous party wall surveyors giving you nonsensical advice.  They all think the Act is their meal ticket. I'm an architect and have had, in the last two months five party wall surveyors contacting me to offer me around 10% of their fees should I recommend them. They're unscrupulous.  If you can rely on your common law rights, just withdraw the Notice.