We are SSES (London) Ltd Company registration number 10913091 VAT registration number 182 1069 22. Our core business being all matters pertaining to the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (the Act). We have filed five years of accounts at companies house with a substantail balance sheet exceeding £300,000. Every Survey we conduct is insured for £500,000 for professional indemnity and £2,000,000 for liability. Copies of the certificates are provided with every written quotation.

We cover the whole of London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire with a team of dedicated specialist full time Party Wall Surveyors. The team leader is Peter Robinson BSc (Hons) MSc BEng who covers London. 

A competitive quotation can be obtained in minutes by Clicking Here.

We accept appointments both as the Building Owners Surveyor and Adjoining Owners Surveyor or as the “Agreed Surveyor” for all parties.

All our Surveyors are vastly experienced in Party Wall matters, all having at least ten years experience pursuant of the Act and all holding a minimum of a University degree in Building Surveying. We have two Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) available for more complex central London projects who specialise in basement excavations and conversions. We also have a full time Structural Engineer. 

Collectively our Party Wall Surveyors have published over 30,000 Awards being regularly  appointed by many local Councils and retained Architects.  

The Building Owner’s property is always their principle asset and when it comes to structural changes things can go wrong. So, protecting your asset by appointing a Party Wall expert is fundamental.

Some straightforward advice and correct documentation provides all parties with clarity and understanding of what is a complicated piece of legislation the Act can be.

If you or your neighbour are considering excavation works or indeed making structural modifications at the Party Wall you must serve a formal notice under the Act and employing a Party Wall expert to undertake the service of notice or indeed to deal with any notice received from your neighbour could not be more important. 

What’s your situation?

Whether you are the Building Owner (the person carrying out the works) or the Adjoining Owner (the neighbour affected by the works) you can simply contact us here to receive a formal quotation. If you are the Adjoining Owner there is no fee, and our fee will be paid by the Building Owner as in accordance to the Act.

“I am planning the building works”

Essential steps:

Notify your neighbours

The Act requires you as the Building Owner to formally serve the Adjoining Owner notice of the intended works. There is specific information that you need to include within the notice. If you incorrectly serve a notice it will be deeded invalid and the process will have to be recommenced. This will cause delay. The simplest way to achieve the correct documentation is to contact us for a discussion or a formal quotation. We serve notices from £49.00 + VAT. 

When to serve notice upon your neighbour 

We recommend that formal notification is served eight weeks before the proposed works are due to commence. Once served the neighbours have 14 days to respond they can:

A) Consent. In most cases this is unlikely.

B) Dissent and agree to the appointment of a shared “Agreed Surveyor”. This is the most popular option as it keeps the Building Owners costs to a minimum. This is of course especially important as you live next to each other.

C) Dissent and appoint their own Surveyor at the Building Owners cost. This option is normally use in aggravated situations such as keen opposition to the development itself.

What you should Expect

Scenario one: The Adjoining Owner Consents

In our experience, if the nature or scope of the works is simple, your neighbour may consent. Such simple works could be re-pointing a chimney stack. 

Scenario two: The Adjoining Owner consents with conditions

If the situation is more complex such as foundation excavations or inserting Steel beams into a shared Party Wall the neighbour may consent but request a schedule of condition of his property undertaken by a professional Surveyor. 

The Party Wall Surveyor will conduct a physical survey of all relevant areas to the intended works and record digital images. In most situation the cost will be meet by the Building Owner. 

Scenario three: The Adjoining Owner dissents and requests an Award.

If the Adjoining Owner fails to provide unconditional consent according to the Act this situation is deemed as a “dispute” requiring Surveyors to be appointed under section 10 (1) of the Act.

This situation is nothing more than a conditional consent requiring an Award to be produced. An experienced Party wall Surveyor will advise to the nature of content they can expect to be included within the Award. Typically, the Award will include the scope of the intended works and detailing conditions such as noise, security, timescales, access, details of compensation in the event the Building Owner damages the Adjoining Owners property undertaking the intended works. 

There are of course complex situations such as basement excavations and more often the Adjoining Owners Surveyor will make a request for Security for expenses under section 12 (1) of the Act. The sum requested is often large and typically between £10,000 and £100,000 depending on location and size of the project.

Avoiding Delays

When undertaking lesser complex projects, delays can be avoided by both parties agreeing to the appointment of an independent specialist Party Wall Surveyor as the “Agreed Surveyor” under section 10 (1) (a) of the Act. 

On more complex projects both the Building Owner and Adjoining Owner will need to appoint their own Surveyors under section 10 (1) (b). The Building Owners Surveyor will need the facility of a structural Engineer and the Adjoining Owners will appoint a checking Engineer. We have our own in house structural Engineer for these situations keeping the Building Owners costs to a minimum.  

Working together

Our function in straightforward situations is to act as an impartial Party Wall Surveyors referred to as the “Agreed Surveyor” under the Act. We ensure all the fundamental design elements of the project are complete and in place. We also undertake the pre-work schedule of condition.

Finally, we will draft the Party Wall Award with common sense conditions to avoid damage and unreasonable disruption whilst maintaining security and privacy for the Adjoining Owner during the duration of the indented development works.  

“The Building Owner is to commence building works”

Expect to be served with formal notice 

At this stage you should have received a formal Party wall Notice from the building Owner. The notices will detail the scope of works within the boundary between the two properties. You will receive any excavation notice under section 1 or 6 of the Act at least one month before the intending works commence. The notice period for structural modifications under section 2 of the Act is two months before works are due to commence.

Appoint a specialist Party Wall Surveyor

The Party wall Act is there to protect your property from potential damage and regardless of your relationship with your neighbour, there is risk involved with any development they undertake. They are employing a builder you have no relationship with and these situations can be tricky.

In these situations, it’s prudent you always appoint your own experienced Party Wall Surveyor to protect your interests. Our services in this situation are free of any charge. Our fees in most cases are covered by the Building Owner.

Consent and Dispute explained

The Act requires you to respond to any formal Party Wall notices within 14 days of its service. You may consent but this gives away all your legal rights under the Act leaving you without any protection. We recommend you never consent but appoint a specialist Party Wall Surveyor upon receipt of any Party Wall Notice. Sister Site.

You can contact us by telephone on 0207 1180 039 or here.

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