What does a party wall consultation include?
A party wall consultation gives you dedicated time with a specialist party wall surveyor to discuss your party wall matters. They will understand your position, clarify any points necessary and allay any fears you may have.
You can use your time with them to review your plans, determine whether you need to notify your neighbours or simply ask whatever questions you may have relating to party walls. This time is yours and we will do our best to help you in any way we can.
How will the consultation be carried out?
We can carry out your consultation by phone, over Zoom or Teams or, alternatively, you are very welcome to meet with us in person, over a coffee at our offices. Whatever you choose, it is always helpful if you can provide us with the drawings of your proposals before we meet, so that we can review them in advance and make the most of our time together.
Why do you charge for consultations?
At Harrison Clarke, we invest heavily in our party wall surveyors’ education, which means that they are highly knowledgeable experts in their field and very familiar with the legislation. They can skilfully interpret its surrounding issues and real-world implications.
Whilst we love to help our clients, we unfortunately cannot work for free. However, we are confident that your investment in our advice is likely to save you money later on in the process.
Depending on how your neighbours react to being served Party Wall Notices, the party wall process can be fairly expensive. If your neighbours dissent and they choose to appoint their own surveyor, those costs will be your responsibility, and the additional process could delay your project which could also have cost implications.
Understanding the party wall process and your obligations to the Party Wall Act from the outset, and handling the situation with your neighbours in the best way possible, can often result in cost savings.
At Harrison Clarke, we like to take a personal approach to dealing with neighbours. We focus on building relationships with your neighbours through honesty and trust – in our experience, this often improves the chances of neighbours consenting to your notices.
What if I didn’t need Party Wall Notices after all?
There are times where a consultation with a building owner confirms that Party Wall Notices are not required.
Whilst you may feel that you have wasted your money if this is the case, we believe that your investment in our advice is still money well spent.
If you had served notices when you didn’t need to, even if you had drawn them up yourself without incurring professional fees, the process of serving notices could risk an unnecessary dispute between you and your neighbours, and result in the appointment of surveyors whose costs you would be responsible for.
On occasion, we have been appointed by neighbours of building owners during the process of them planning building works, only to find that there were no notifiable works in the first place.
Expert advice can help to reassure you that you are doing the right thing, and make sure that you are complying with your legal obligations as they are set out in the Party Wall Act.
My neighbour is planning construction works – can I have a consultation?
Yes, absolutely. We are happy to provide advice to neighbours, especially if you are worried about your neighbour’s building works.
We are also happy to speak to neighbours on behalf of building owners who are planning construction works, if this would help to alleviate any concerns they may have and maximise the chance of them agreeing to the works.
How much does a party wall consultation cost?
If you would like to discuss your party wall matters with one of our specialist party wall surveyors, we offer a 30-minute consultation for a fixed fee of £100 including VAT.
How do I book a consultation?
To arrange a consultation, please use the booking enquiry form on our website.
Or, you can call us on 023 8155 0051 or email us at info@harrisonclarke.co.
We look forward to helping you with your party wall matters.
How Harrison Clarke can help
For further guidance and useful tips and information on the range of surveying services we provide, you can read our blogs and watch our videos. These are available on our website and our YouTube channel.
At the time of writing, we have a total of 80 reviews across Trustpilot and Google. We are proud to say that they are all 5-star ratings across the board.
