As Mr Brooks alludes to, it is better for the neighbour to appoint his/her own Surveyor then there are two persons looking at matters.As I wrote before, it can be that in fact some of the supposed party wall matters can turn out in fact not to be subject to the Act after all. This depends on who owns the various walls i.e. if there are what we normally called "party walls" (before they were re-named for the Act as "party fence walls" and so on).In a case in Ealing on the Haymills Estate, failure to appoint a surveyor (the person concerned considered the notice to be unclear, etc) meant that the developer appointed the surveyor for both owners. This resulted in very unsatisfactory results when a basement next door caused serious problems (still unresolved) and litigation costing £30,000 to date and after about 5 years, it is still a real mess!In a very recent case in Hammersmith, the Council served a notice on the adjoining owner referring to the boundary line which dated from the 1880s. But in the intervening time, the block of 6 Victorian terraced houses had been subject to bomb damage in WWII leaving only 1 house (the end house) standing with some roof damage, etc. This house was made good in 1947 and turned into a detached house and the now open space next door (so to say) was later acquired by the Council who built a block of flats in the 1950s (in a completely different and quite plain style and set back from the front building line).Hammersmith Council now wish to alter the entrance to the flats and suggested eating into the old Victorian boundary, which of course was altered in 1947 so what was once a "party wall" (in the original expression) and other shared decorative features altered in 1947 are no longer that. In the end after our solicitor Gerald Moran pointed out various legal matters and case law, the Council have agreed to move their proposed development so as to cause several of the supposed party wall act matters to be excised from the party wall award (since they are no longer shared parts of buildings, etc). I mention all this to show that it is important that experienced surveyors are involved and also in some cases that the legal position is also examined where there is any doubt as to who owns what or if things have changed over the years (i.e. where a trespass may have occurred and not been challenged for 12 years then a trespassing building even on someone's else's land would not be a "party fence wall" and so on!)
Victor Mishiku ● 3754d