Party Wall Terms & Conditions 

PARTY WALL SERVICES – TERMS OF BUSINESS

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Introduction and Application

1.1 These Terms of Business apply to all services provided by Rellim Surveyors (“the Practice”) in connection with the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (“the Act”) and shall be read in conjunction with any Letter of Appointment and Fee Proposal issued in respect of the instruction. In the event of inconsistency, the Fee Proposal shall prevail in relation to agreed fees only and these Terms shall otherwise prevail.

1.2 By instructing the Practice, the Client and/or Appointing Owner confirms acceptance of these Terms and acknowledges the statutory framework governing Party Wall appointments.

1.3 These Terms apply to both pre-dispute advisory services and formal statutory appointments made pursuant to Section 10 of the Act.

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Definitions

2.1 “Practice” means Rellim Surveyors as the contracting professional services entity.

2.2 “Surveyor” or “Appointed Surveyor” means the individual surveyor formally appointed pursuant to Section 10 of the Act and exercising statutory functions thereunder.

2.3 “Client” means any person or entity providing instruction prior to statutory appointment.

2.4 “Appointing Owner” means a person formally appointing the Surveyor under Section 10 of the Act.

2.5 “Award” means a Party Wall Award made pursuant to the Act.

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Nature of Appointment and Statutory Capacity

3.1 Party Wall matters typically progress through a pre-dispute advisory stage and a statutory appointment stage. These stages are legally distinct and may attract separate fee liabilities.

3.2 Prior to statutory appointment, the Practice acts in a commercial advisory capacity only.

3.3 Upon formal appointment under Section 10 of the Act, the Surveyor acts in a statutory and quasi-judicial capacity and is not an advocate for the appointing party. The Surveyor owes a duty to act impartially between the parties and in accordance with the Act and relevant case law.

3.4 The Surveyor’s statutory duties cannot be fettered or influenced by private agreement.

3.5 Separate statutory appointments may arise in respect of different Adjoining Owners, amended Notices, additional works or further disputes. Each may give rise to separate fees.

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Scope and Limitations of Services

4.1 Services may include advising upon notifiability, drafting and serving Notices, responding to Notices, preparing and serving Awards, preparing or reviewing Schedules of Condition, reviewing drawings and supporting documentation, engaging in correspondence and negotiations with other surveyors and addressing matters arising under Sections 7, 8, 10 and 12 of the Act.

4.2 The Surveyor’s role is confined strictly to matters falling within the Act.

4.3 The Surveyor does not supervise construction, certify structural adequacy, design temporary works, verify engineering calculations, assess contractor competence or act as contract administrator.

4.4 The making of an Award does not confirm compliance with Planning legislation, Building Regulations, CDM Regulations or other statutory regimes outside the Act.

4.5 The Surveyor is entitled to rely upon drawings, structural information and professional reports provided by others and accepts no responsibility for their technical accuracy.

4.6 The Practice operates different fee structures depending upon the method of instruction and scope of service required.

4.7 Where services are instructed via the Practice’s online platform or digital quotation tools, fixed or promotional pricing may apply. Such pricing is based upon defined scopes of work, standard residential assumptions and streamlined administration.

4.8 Online pricing may not include extended advisory input, complex or phased works, enhanced oversight, additional site attendances or supplementary technical review cycles unless expressly stated.

4.9 Appointments made directly with the Practice are governed by the Practice Fee Scale applicable at the date of instruction and reflect a tailored professional service with structured case management and full administrative oversight.

4.10 The Practice reserves the right to determine the appropriate fee structure having regard to the complexity, technical risk and nature of the proposed works.

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Fees – Building Owner Appointments

5.1 Where appointed to act for a Building Owner, fees are charged in accordance with the Practice Fee Scale applicable at the date of instruction unless otherwise agreed in writing.

5.2 The Fee Scale assumes standard residential works of ordinary complexity, one inspection and one drawing set.

5.3 Standard scale fees are: Notice preparation £95 per Notice; Schedule of Condition from £595; Award for one Adjoining Owner (loft/beam works) from £1,850; structural/extension works from £1,450; basement/underpinning works from £2,750; each additional Adjoining Owner from £950.

5.4 The Practice reserves the right to revise the scale for complex, commercial, phased, high-risk or technically involved works.

5.5 The scale excludes additional services, revised drawings, supplementary Awards, enforcement matters, Third Surveyor referrals and post-Award damage investigations unless expressly stated.

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Fees – Adjoining Owner Appointments

6.1 Where appointed as Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor, fees are charged on a time basis unless otherwise agreed.

6.2 Hourly rates are: Surveyor £195 per hour; Basement matters £245 per hour; Director £295 per hour; Expert Witness £395 per hour.

6.3 Time is charged in 15-minute increments and rounded up. Travel time is chargeable.

6.4 Where an Award determines that the Building Owner is responsible for the Adjoining Owner’s reasonable surveyor’s fees, recovery shall be pursued accordingly. The Appointing Owner remains contractually liable where recovery is not achieved.

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Additional Services and Scope Changes

7.1 Unless expressly included, additional services shall be charged separately.

7.2 Additional services include revised Notices, review of revised drawings, structural amendments, method statement review, temporary works review, security for expenses determinations, supplementary Awards, Third Surveyor referrals, additional inspections, damage investigations, enforcement advice and liaison with legal representatives.

7.3 Material changes to the design or method of construction after service of Notice may require further statutory procedures and may attract additional fees.

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Security for Expenses – Section 12

8.1 Where the Surveyor reasonably considers that the proposed works present risk to an Adjoining Owner, the Surveyor may require Security for Expenses pursuant to Section 12 of the Act.

8.2 The amount and form of such security shall be determined impartially by the Surveyor.

8.3 The costs of assessing, determining and administering Security for Expenses are chargeable services.

8.4 Security for Expenses does not constitute insurance or supervision of works.

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Access and Injunction Risk

9.1 Rights of access under Section 8 of the Act are statutory but not self-enforcing.

9.2 The Surveyor does not guarantee that access will be granted voluntarily.

9.3 Where access is refused and legal proceedings are required, such proceedings fall outside the scope of the Act and the Surveyor’s appointment.

9.4 The Surveyor shall not be liable for delay, contractor claims, financing costs or losses arising from refusal of access or injunction proceedings.

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Post-Award Damage and Section 7

10.1 Allegations of damage arising from notifiable works may require inspection and determination under Section 7 of the Act.

10.2 Damage inspections, causation analysis, negotiation of settlement and preparation of further Awards are chargeable services.

10.3 The Surveyor’s role is to determine causation and reasonable cost of making good, not to supervise repairs.

10.4 Where damage is determined to arise from the works, reasonable surveyor’s fees are ordinarily recoverable from the Building Owner; however, recovery cannot be guaranteed.

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Enforcement and Appeal

11.1 The Surveyor has no power to enforce an Award.

11.2 Enforcement proceedings or appeals under Section 10(17) of the Act fall outside the Surveyor’s statutory role and any advisory involvement shall be chargeable.

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Dormancy and Suspension

12.1 A matter shall be deemed dormant where no substantive progress occurs for 28 consecutive days.

12.2 Upon dormancy exceeding 28 days, the Practice may issue an interim invoice and suspend services until payment is received.

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Liability and Professional Indemnity

13.1 The Practice shall exercise reasonable skill and care consistent with the standards of a competent Chartered Surveyor experienced in Party Wall matters.

13.2 When acting under Section 10, the Surveyor acts in a statutory and quasi-judicial capacity and shall not be liable for acts or omissions undertaken in good faith in proper exercise of statutory functions.

13.3 The Practice and the Surveyor shall not be liable for acts or omissions of contractors, engineers, adjoining owners or other surveyors.

13.4 The Practice shall not be liable for losses arising from delay, refusal of access, injunction proceedings, insolvency of parties or failure of a party to comply with an Award.

13.5 Liability, if established, shall be limited to the level of Professional Indemnity Insurance held at the date of instruction.

13.6 Any claim shall be notified within six years of the relevant act or omission.

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Debt Recovery, Section 17 Enforcement and Insolvency

14.1 All fees, disbursements and additional charges arising under these Terms constitute a contractual debt payable by the instructing party.

14.2 In the event that any invoice remains unpaid beyond the due date, the Practice reserves the right to suspend all further services, including preparation of further documentation or attendance at site, until outstanding sums are discharged in full. Suspension shall not constitute termination of statutory appointment.

14.3 The Practice reserves the right to charge statutory interest pursuant to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 together with fixed compensation and all reasonable recovery costs.

14.4 The Client and/or Appointing Owner agrees to indemnify the Practice in respect of all costs incurred in the recovery of unpaid sums, including but not limited to administrative costs, debt collection agency fees, tracing fees, court fees, solicitors’ fees and enforcement costs. Such costs shall be recoverable on an indemnity basis and shall not be limited to statutory fixed compensation.

14.5 Where fees are determined within a Party Wall Award pursuant to Section 10 of the Act and remain unpaid, the Practice reserves the right to pursue recovery through the Magistrates’ Court pursuant to Section 17 of the Act, in addition to any other available legal remedy.

14.6 The Client acknowledges that an Award constitutes a legally binding determination and failure to comply may result in enforcement proceedings, including registration of debt and enforcement action permitted by law.

14.7 Where more than one person instructs the Practice, liability for all fees and recovery costs shall be joint and several.

14.8 The Practice reserves the right to retain possession of reports, Awards, Schedules of Condition and associated documentation until outstanding contractual sums are discharged, save where prohibited by statutory duty.

14.9 The Practice may set off any sums owed to it against monies held on behalf of the Client where lawfully permitted.

14.10 Insolvency and Abandonment

14.10.1 In the event that the Building Owner enters into liquidation, administration, voluntary arrangement, bankruptcy or any analogous insolvency procedure, all outstanding fees shall become immediately due and payable.

14.10.2 The Surveyor shall not be liable for incomplete works, abandoned excavations, exposed structures or temporary works left in situ as a result of insolvency or financial default of the Building Owner.

14.10.3 Where the Surveyor reasonably considers that the Building Owner may be at risk of insolvency or financial instability, the Surveyor may require Security for Expenses pursuant to Section 12 of the Act and/or may require advance payment of fees.

14.10.4 The Surveyor shall not be responsible for monitoring financial solvency of the Building Owner and provides no warranty as to financial capability.

14.10.5 In basement or underpinning schemes, the Client acknowledges that insolvency risk may materially increase exposure to adjoining properties and that the Surveyor’s role is limited to statutory functions under the Act.

 

Third Party Rights and Governing Law

15.1 No third party shall acquire rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

15.2 These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

By instructing the Practice, the Client confirms acceptance of these Terms of Business.