Property Survey and Party Wall Guides
These guides explain the law and procedure behind a surveying question, separately from the pages that explain a service. They are written from the statute, from government guidance and from published professional standards, and they say so when no authoritative source exists for a question people commonly ask.
Party wall guides
Party wall agreement: what the Act calls an award
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 does not use the phrase “party wall agreement”. This guide covers what the statutory document actually is, when consent in writing removes the need for one, which notice applies to which work and how far ahead it must be served, how an award is made and what it can decide, and what the Court of Appeal decided about work started without a notice.
Who pays for a party wall surveyor?
Who pays for the building work and who pays for the surveyor are separate questions in the Act, with different answers. This guide covers the default rule for expenses and the exceptions that displace it, the position on surveyors’ fees, the timetable for accounts, security for expenses, and what to do if a fee looks unreasonable.
Party wall notice: which one, when and what to say
There are three party wall notices, not one, and they do not share a notice period. This guide covers which notice applies to which work, what each must contain, who has to be served, whether email counts as service, how a neighbour may respond, and how long a notice lasts.
Party wall notice template: what a notice must say
There is no prescribed form for a party wall notice, and no template is legally required. This guide covers what section 3 requires a party structure notice to state, what the line of junction and excavation notices need instead, why a section 6 notice is incomplete without drawings, and where the official example letters are.
What does a party wall surveyor do?
An appointed surveyor is not your representative and cannot be dismissed by you; the surveyor or surveyors making the award determine how its reasonable costs are paid. This guide covers the statutory definition of a surveyor, the two appointment routes and the risk peculiar to each, when the third surveyor can be called in and by whom, what an award may and may not determine, and the fourteen-day right of appeal.
Do I need a party wall surveyor?
Often the answer is no, even when the work is notifiable. This guide covers the two-part tests that decide whether work is notifiable at all, the fourteen-day rule that turns silence into a deemed dispute, how written consent means no award is needed at that point while nothing is disputed, and the duties that apply whether or not a surveyor is involved.
No party wall agreement? Your options explained
Since 2023 this has been settled law. This guide covers what the Court of Appeal decided about work started without a notice, why there is no retrospective statutory award where the Act was not engaged while a private agreement remains a separate possibility, what an adjoining owner can and cannot refuse, and what happens when you sell a house where no agreement exists.
Party wall agreement template: award or written consent
There is no universal statutory form under that name. This guide distinguishes an award made by appointed surveyors from an owner’s written consent or private agreement, explains the different statutory gateways and shows why downloaded samples cannot be reused without checking their purpose.
Schedule of condition: what it records and proves
A schedule is a dated record of visible condition, not a guarantee, structural diagnosis or automatic proof of later damage. This guide covers scope, access, descriptions, referenced photographs, Party Wall awards, post-work comparisons and the separate purposes of lease schedules and Schedules of Dilapidations.
Survey guides
Level 3 survey example: what the report contains
The sample Level 3 report RICS publishes is a blank template with nothing filled in. This guide covers the fourteen sections a report runs to, the five condition markers rather than the usual three, what the standard requires a report to address, what the surveyor does and does not inspect, and why a valuation is not included.
Level 2 survey example: what the report contains
RICS publishes two sample Level 2 reports and both are blank. This guide covers the two differently lettered Level 2 report structures, what the standard requires the report to say and exactly where the inspection stops at Level 2 rather than Level 3.
Level 2 house survey checklist
A preparation and report-reading checklist based on the RICS Level 2 benchmark. It covers choosing the service, agreeing scope, improving access, reading ratings and NI entries, handling further investigations and converting the findings into questions and actions.
Red flags on a house survey: how to read them
“Red flag” is not a formal RICS category. This guide explains how to read serious or urgent findings, unresolved investigations, inspection limits and legal-adviser entries without treating every defect or condition rating as a transaction verdict.
Where guides sit alongside the service pages
A guide explains the law. A service page explains what you can ask for and what a quote should cover.
- The Party Wall surveyor guide explains when a surveyor may be needed and what the role involves.
- The Party Wall surveyor cost guide explains the factors that affect a quoted fee.
If you already know what you need, you can post your surveying job — free. An administrator reviews each request manually.
How these guides are written
Every legal statement is tied to its source: a section of the Act, published government guidance, a professional standard, or a judgment. Where the common question has no authoritative answer — how long an award takes, what a party wall surveyor typically charges — these guides say that plainly rather than repeating a figure from commercial sources.