Party wall papers served abroad

[llyh]

Hi there would really appreciate some legal advice.

We are buying a property from a seller who lives overseas. They have just informed us they failed to reply to a party wall notice from the neighbours who are doing work and after 2 notices without response the neighbour has appointed us a surveyor. No survey has yet taken place so we've asked if the appointed surveyor could stand down so we could appoint someone we trust. Theyve refused. We had no idea the notice had been served and the seller said they received late due to being abroad. I wanted to know if the same timings apply to serving notice if someone lives out of the country and it seems strange the same timings would apply when it can take a lot longer to receive.

Appreciate your help. Many thanks

Notice periods do not change just because the recipient of the notice lives out of the country. Notice can be delivered electronically, in which case delivery is pretty much instant regardless of where the recipient lives. But someone needing to serve notice under the Party Wall, etc. Act does not have to wait longer just because the owner of the adjacent property is out of the country.

And if your 'appointed' surveyor comes at a time when they can't survey the property and so they dont actually come into the property but then finalise the party wall notice. How is that acting impartially? Sorry im just trying to understand if some issues arise in our property a few years down the line that could be the result of the neighbours work, how will we have a leg to stand on?

Posting with a new question and to bump up for more clarity.
Many thanks

You don't have standing to agree a surveyor as you do not currently own the property. This is for your seller to sort out with the other party. You are in exactly the same position as you would have been if this had happened before you even viewed the property.

But as we are about to exchange the seller has passed it on to us and put us in touch with the surveyor to discuss. So whether its us corresponding or the seller, what we are all trying to understand is how is it impartial if the appointed surveyor doesn't even enter the property. How could they make a fair assessment at a later date should there be damage which could have potentially been caused by the work. Thanks

If the seller is in dispute with the neighbours over this, they can appoint an agreed surveyor with the neighbours. The seller can, of course, discuss this with you. If there is no agreement on who to appoint, each party appoints its own surveyor, and those surveyors agree the appointment of a third surveyor. This clearly increases costs as there are now three surveyors to pay instead of one.

If the seller is not in dispute with the neighbours over this work, there is nothing for the surveyor to be impartial about. Their job is simply to advise on the options for carrying out the work. They are entitled to enter the premises and, in some circumstances, can force entry.

If there is any damage as a result of the work, the neighbours will be responsible. That applies regardless of anything that happens regarding a survey.