Guide
Who pays party wall costs?
Usually, the person having the building work done pays for the whole party wall process. Here is why, the exceptions, and how to keep the bill sensible.
- Building owner usually pays
- Costs set in the award
- Shared if both benefit
The general rule
When the work is for the building owner's benefit, the building owner pays the reasonable costs of the award. That covers their own surveyor, the neighbour's surveyor, and a third surveyor if one is ever needed. The neighbour did not ask for the work, so they should not be out of pocket because of it.
When costs are shared
- Repairs to a defective wall. If a shared wall needs work because it is out of repair, the cost can be split according to each owner's use of the wall and responsibility for the defect.
- Extra work the neighbour asks for. If a neighbour uses a counter-notice to ask for something for their own benefit, such as a flue or a deeper foundation, they pay for it.
- Later use of new work. If a neighbour later makes use of a wall the building owner paid for, for example by building against it, they can be asked to pay a fair share of its cost.
What the costs are made up of
- Surveyors' fees for notices, the schedule of condition and the award.
- A third surveyor's fee, in the rare cases one is called in.
- Checks on structural calculations, where the neighbour's surveyor needs them.
- Compensation or repairs, if the work causes damage.
If you think a fee is too high
The surveyors' costs are set out in the award, and the Act only allows reasonable costs. If the two surveyors cannot agree what is reasonable, the third surveyor can decide.
How to keep costs down
- Serve correct notices the first time, so nothing has to be repeated.
- Share one agreed surveyor where your neighbour is happy to.
- Have full drawings and the engineer's calculations ready before the surveyors start.
- Talk to your neighbours before the notice arrives.
Our own fees are fixed and published. See fees.