Party Wall-when do you get a surveyor?

[Retrievemysanity]

Our neighbours are planning some extensive renovations to their house including building within 3m of our house and have sent us a notice of works and acknowledgment of this to sign. The acknowledgment talks about an agreed surveyor if a dispute arises but do we need a surveyor before works start to confirm the state of our property in case damage is caused but they say it was already like that?! Thanks in advance.

You can get a surveyor to do a preemptive survey but to be honest I would just take your own photos, really thorough ones of all walls, joining walls especially and interior areas of roof/ walls in the loft.

We had a party wall problem with a neighbour who didn't serve any notice of works at all and then damaged our property. We had a hell of a time getting it put right by them.

Take photos, make sure they are dated and then mail them to yourself. You won't have a leg to stand on subsequently if you try to prove any damage has been done without them.

Thank you. I had said to DH we should just take photos. We aren’t actually joined to them, we are a separate detached house but they are a semi attached to someone else. They are going to be coming v close to us though and DH is uber cautious. Sorry to hear about your problems.

You need a party wall surveyor when there is a party wall and the people doing the work have to pay for it: https://www.ricsfirms.com/glossary/party-walls/

Worth finding a good one. They take photos as part of a pre-condition survey and are there to deal with problems. I am a landlord and have currently engaged 2, well one as it is the same person. The first development seems to have been proposed by fairly naïve developers who were going to dig very deep and very close. He has questioned their architects/engineers/surveyors calculations, which he is sure are wrong. The developers have stopped answering questions and seem to have given up on their plans. The second developer is far more professional but we were able to use the party wall surveyor to request that builders did not play radios on site. The development is again very close and radios were on at a volume where they could hear it over of the sound of drilling. as could we. He also negotiated us a settlement for crane and scaffolding oversailing, and check that insurance cover for both was in order.

Steve the Party Wall Surveyor here -

"We had a party wall problem with a neighbour who didn't serve any notice of works at all and then damaged our property. We had a hell of a time getting it put right by them."

Do not just take your own photos. If there are no surveyor and no party wall award there is no formal resolution process and you will have a "hell of a time". A party wall award sets out how damage will and could be made good or how payment is made in lieu, (as well as other directions in respect of the work - working hours for instance), and carries the weight of being legally enforceable.

And, as recommended get a decent surveyor - there are some charlatans out there. Steve