10(4) party wall surveyor appointment

What is a 10(4) Party Wall Surveyor Appointments and under what circumstance does this approach apply?

Before understanding a 10(4) surveyor appointments you need to learn about the party wall notice.

As a building owner, you may want to conduct construction works around your property. If the construction works fall under the party wall Act, you must serve adjoining owners with a party wall notice.

Excavation activities can have an impact on the surrounding property foundations or even affect the soil movement within the 6m area. In this case, such works could cause structural damage to adjoining owner’s buildings.

When an adjoining owner receives a party wall notice they can respond with any of the following options.

  • Approve the works in the absence of a Party wall agreement.
  • Dissent to the works and seek assistance from their own Party Wall Surveyor.
  • Dissent to the works but agree on the nomination of a mutual surveyor commonly known as the Agreed Party Wall Surveyor, in this case the Surveyor will represent both the adjoining owner and building owner impartially.

A party wall notice comprises stern timings which must be held. After receiving the notice, the adjoining owner will have 14 days plus an additional two days to cater to postage within which they should respond.

If they do not respond within that period the party wall surveyor or building owner can serve the 10(4) Party Wall Notice. This notice is an additional directive that gives the adjoining owner an extra ten days within which they should respond to the party wall notice.

The 10(4) Party Wall Notice quotes the date of the initial party wall notice and outlines the works that the building owner will be executing. Find comprehensive details about the party wall act and party wall notices from our blogs.

Many times, a party wall notice may contain errors or be served incorrectly making them legitimately invalid. Understanding the requirements in advance is critical to avoid possible inconveniences.

Assuming the adjoining owner declines to respond to the 10(4) Party Wall Notice. The building owner or their appointed party wall surveyor can take legal action, this involves appointing a party wall surveyor based on section 10(4) of the Party Wall Act. Doing so enables a building owner to nominate a representative to act as an arbitrator between them (building owner) and the adjoining owners.

The assigned 10(4) Party Wall Surveyor should work impartially to ensure both parties come up with a binding party wall agreement. The surveyor is tasked with approaching the non-responsive owner.

Assuming the adjoining owner does not communicate with the assigned 10(4) Party Wall surveyor, the remaining parties will collaborate to generate a condition or external program report. A party wall award will then be issued to regulate the works as proposed by the building owner.

Before serving adjoining owners with a party wall notice, you will want to engage a skilled party wall surveyor to evaluate the works on your behalf. Based on experience, a party wall notice will be received and responded to if a professional serves that, instead of the building owner. However, this does not stop you from serving the party wall notice yourself.

If you are planning to carry out any construction work near the neighbour’s party wall or excavate within 6m and confused about what type of party wall notice should be served upon the adjoining owner, please reach out to us at any time. We offer 30 minutes of free Party Wall Advice service.

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We are a team of party wall surveying experts based throughout London and the surrounding areas. Here, we share informative property survey blogs created by industry experts.

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