Party Wall Surveyor

[lucasgar]

Hi,
I’m looking for some advice regarding terminating the appointment of a party wall surveyor. I am a Building Owner (BO) planning an extension and the Adjoining Owner (AO) has received a letter from one of the party wall survey companies who trawl planning applications and send out prospective letters. The AO has unfortunately signed the appointment letter from this company and posted it back to them, thinking it was from our appointed surveyor (who we have not yet appointed, nor have we served a party wall notice), without letting us know first as they did not want to cause any unnecessary delays. I have read a number of less than positive reviews online for this type of surveyor regarding both quality and price of the services offered. I have a good relationship with the AO and have spoken with them, as I have in detail regarding our plans over the last few months, and they would be happy to terminate the appointment and move forward with an agreed surveyor based within our area.

I have re-read the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and am not sure if it is possible to cancel the services and appoint another surveyor as section 10.2 states “All appointments and selections made under this section shall be in writing and shall not be rescinded by either party”. Can anyone help clarify if this is possible, as surely this means if someone manages to convince you to sign on the line, they have you well and truly over a barrel. It may also help to know that the signed letter of appointment from the AO will not be received by the surveyor for another 2 days at least as it was posted after the last collection.

If it is not possible to terminate the appointment, should I try to appoint this surveyor as an agreed surveyor to minimise the costs or would it be better for me to appoint a second surveyor to ensure that this one does not rip me off? Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

.... received a letter from one of the party wall survey companies who trawl planning applications and send out prospective letters ....

Sounds like distance selling to me.

I have re-read the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and am not sure if it is possible to cancel the services and appoint another surveyor as section 10.2 states “All appointments and selections made under this section shall be in writing and shall not be rescinded by either party”. Can anyone help clarify if this is possible,

My guess is that it's not, as long as any rescinding is done in accordance with the Consumer Contracts Regulations, but you should get proper advice re that.

as surely this means if someone manages to convince you to sign on the line, they have you well and truly over a barrel.

Another thing to look into, maybe, would be that it is not you who has signed anything.

Can a 3rd party (your AO) sign a contract which is binding on you to pay for?

If you've not submitted a notice, does the AO have any rights under the PWA, such as appointing a surveyor?

Who is to say that you are even going to carry out the work? Maybe your idea was to see if you got PP before forking out for someone to do any structural design and detailed drawings, and before you got builders in to quote. At which point you might think "£blimey" and change your mind.

I'd be tempted to write to the surveyor and say that your neighbour was premature, you've got PP but have no immediate plans to start work, you have not served a notice on the neighbour so the requirement for a PWS does not exist, and you will not be paying them for anything.

 

[bongos]

As you've already noticed these companies are highly dubious and just trawl the planning websites looking for new appliactions.

One company has caused confusion on my road by mailing everyone who lives within a 100m radius of my property (i'm the one getting the work done). Ive had other delightful letters telling me the council have informed them that I'm doing work and that to contact them about it immediately.

Says it all about the PWA in my opinion...

 

[jeds]

I see no reason why your neighbour could not cancel the appointment. The PWA begins with the service of a notice. Until notice is served any discussion or appointment between your neighbour and surveyor is just a private arrangement outside of the rules of the PWA. In fact, it's likely the surveyor will contact your neighbour and advise them that they cannot do anything until a notice is served.

 

[lucasgar]

Thanks all. I think I'll try getting my neighbour to cancel the appointment before the party wall notice is served and see what happens.

I wouldn't be completely surprised if within a few days the surveyor had somehow managed to incur some ridiculous value in expenses and looks to be recompensed. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I wouldn't be completely surprised if within a few days the surveyor had somehow managed to incur some ridiculous value in expenses and looks to be recompensed.

Nor would I.

But it would appear to be your neighbour who would be responsible for paying them, as there's no legal basis for you being liable to pay.