My focus is to take you through the process smoothly and fairly. I use my training and expertise to ensure that your rights and protections under the Party Wall Act are preserved and my focus is to deliver a resolution. My aim is to avoid disputes or resolve them efficiently. I pride myself on my honest and open approach.

I cover all areas of London but do most of my work in South London. I will usually take instructions for cases within 45 minutes travel from my base in Herne Hill. This ensures that my fees stay reasonable and you are not charged for unnecessary travel.

I charge reasonable fees for the work I do. Please do call me to talk through your specific needs but I am not the cheapest provider. I believe that I deliver good advice and good value. For me the value of the Party Wall Surveyor is not in their ability to do the 'admin'. It is in their training and experience to give the right advice and make good decisions that make the process as painless as possible. When you engage me it will be me working on your case. It will be me drafting the documents and it will be me visiting site. I do not use juniors and I do not outsource my work. I believe that gives you the best value (but not necessarily the cheapest price).

Under normal circumstances the person carrying out the building works would pay the fees, (known as costs) as he is the one receiving the benefit of the works. However, the surveyors will make the final determination based on the benefit received by all parties. It is worth speaking with your neighbours before any notice is served, and you may be able to reach an agreement that also satisfies their needs and future benefit.

You are unable to rescind his appointment but you can approach the third surveyor to resolve the matter for you. However, if you have chosen to have just the one surveyor called the 'agreed surveyor', then there is no third surveyor to call upon. So, there is a financial benefit to appointing an agreed party wall surveyor that acts for both the building owner and neighbour. But, there is no third party wall surveyor to mediate between party wall surveyors! So choose your party wall surveyor(s) carefully.

You have 14 days to lodge an appeal in the County Court. But first enquire with your party wall surveyor or call the faculty for free advice.

There are ways to avoid using the Party Wall Act (simply, don't build on the boundary & don't dig excavations lower than existing nearby foundations). However, remember the Act gives you rights as well as obligations. It allows you to carry out work and gives you rights of access to complete those works. Also, done right it can minimise the prospect of unforseen costs and delays and (perhaps most importantly) help to preserve good neighbourly relations. Finally, if your neighbour can benefit from your building works (for example, using the wall you built to complete their own extension) then they will be obliged to contribute to the cost of building the works (in proportion to the benefit they receive. So you can avoid using the Act but it is not necessarily in your interest to do so. Contact me and I can give you advice based on your specific circumstances.

In order to use the Party wall act it is imperative that the exact location of a boundary is known. However it is the responsibiity of the owner and the Party Wall Surveyor cannot determine where the boundary of a property is. So how can you do that? In the first instance consult the Land Registry title. This should confirm the boundary location. Unfortunately this isn't always the case. So if Land Registry doesn't help look for clear indications on the ground - plates in the walls, alignment of features (parapets, fence walls etc). Next consult old maps to see if they help. Either way you must agree and document this with your neighbours. Just remember you must determine and agree the boundary before any Party Wall Award is given and certainly before any work starts. Call me if you need any advice.

Have a look at the Party Wall page on my website. That gives you the general overview of the types of notices. Also download the publications at the bottom of that page. They are very helpful. However, the reality is that you need to serve the right notice (or combination of notices) correctly or you may invalidate the agreement. So please do call me to talk through your specific works. I'm happy to give free initial advice.

Yes, The Party Wall Act, Section11 (11) states that you must contribute to the cost of a Party Wall that you use that was previously built by a neighbour. Your contribution will be in proportion to the benefit you receive.

If your neighbour dissents to the notice they have a right to appoint their own surveyor. Sadly, there are a number of surveyors who charge excessively high fees to neighbours (adjoining owners) for arguably doing much less work than your surveyor. You cannot vet or dictate who your neighbour uses - it is their free choice. So you have little control over the fees they charge. However, your surveyor should be very careful in their dealings with neighbours surveyors to guard against excessive fees and to challenge them where appropriate. There are also some strategies you can use to minimse the risk of excessive fees. 1. Talk to your neighbour before serving any notice and help them to be as comfortable with the work as possible so they can consent (and so there is no need to appoint a surveyor). 2. Always serve notice before planning applications are submitted. Some surveyors will scan planning applications and encourage your neighbours to instruct them and immediately dissent - this approach in my experience also comes along with excessively high fees. 3. Offer to produce a schedule of condition before work starts - this is insurance for both you and your neighbour and makes consent an easier prospect. 4. You could adopt your neighbour's surveyor as an agreed surveyor to minimise costs. However be careful as you will then only have recourse to the courts if you disagree with the surveyors award. I charge resonable fees for the work I do and will always challenge excessive fees from others where I am involved.

No. You do not need to dissent to be fully protected under he Party Wall Act. Even if you consent to works being done and there is subsequently a problem you can dissent at any time and invoke the dispute part of the Act. So if someone is telling you to dissent purely to be protected then you should take their advice with a pinch of salt. You should dissent if you have legitimate concerns but I would be suspicious of anyone who says you must dissent in all circumstances. Whether you consent or not I would recommend you insist that a schedule of condition is prepared. This will provide a baseline condition of the affected parts of your property and make it a lot easier to agree responsibility should any subsequent damages occur.

Usually you will not be expected to pay the fees of your surveyor. They will be paid by the person carrying out he works. However, there are a number of circumstances where you will be expected to pay: 1. Where the work carried out will benefit you, you will be expected to pay the portion of costs related to your benefit (once that benefit is used). 2. Where the fees charged by your surveyor are not deemed to be reasonable you will be expected to pay the excess. So, although you are not likely to pay the fees you still need to ensure that your surveyor is acting reasonably and not charging excessive fees or claiming for unnecessary work. In particular watch out if your surveyor is pusing you to dispute where you think there is no disagreement (as it could be a ploy to charge extra fees) and do not engage a surveyor who is based a long distance from the property (more than 45 minutes travel time should be viewed as excessive and fees charged for more travel time should be challenged).

Party Wall Surveyors have a duty to act fairly and be unbiased. Theirs is a statutory appointment (so their ultimate responsibility is to deliver the requirements of the Act) and they are not agents of any particular party. So you should be able to instruct a single (agreed) surveyor to cover both you and your neighbour's interests under the Act. However, by appointing 2 surveyors you also invoke the services of a 3rd surveyor who is available to resolve disputes. If you appoint an agreed surveyor then the 3rd Surveyor is not available and the only recourse you will have if you disagree with the surveyor's decisions is through the courts. Therefore I would only recommend you appoint an agreed surveyor in simple matters and where you have confidence in the Surveyor. Please call me if you need any advice.