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The Party Wall Award is the legal document that details the rights and responsibilities of the party wall owners when work is done to a shared wall (or in the immediate vicinity of it). One owner is the Building Owner—the one doing the work. The other is the Adjoining Owner—the one who lives next to the wall being worked on. The Building Owner is responsible for paying for the Party Wall Award process (although the cost is often split between both sides when the work is done to a shared wall).
The process of getting an Award is something like a legal negotiation, which is required whenever work is planned that might upset the occupants of the nearby property. The Award describes in great detail the proposed work and sets out the rights and responsibilities of both parties.
As a record of the condition of the neighbouring property, a Schedule of Condition is usually included before any relevant works commence. This acts as a point of reference if the party wall works cause any damage.
The Award is a legal document, and as such, it is wise to keep it with the Deeds of the property. The Award is living proof of what was done and under whose jurisdiction it was initiated. You cannot make a retrospective Award if no Notice has been served.
These reports are really the overview of any problems in a house and save a person a lot of money if you get what’s called the Building Survey. Every Property Survey will reveal if there are serious issues and problems that could lead to a lot more expensive damage if not resolved.
The expense of a building survey can depend on your requirements and the size of your property. As of now, for guidance, a level 3 survey (full structural building survey) usually starts at about £700, while a level 2 survey (homebuyer report) usually begins at around £600.
Most people seek a mortgage valuation because they think it will yield some beneficial information about the property’s condition—something like a basic, abbreviated building survey. However, a mortgage valuation is not that. It is merely a safety net for the lender.
A lender’s appraiser determines whether the property is worth the purchase price to ensure the lender’s risk is minimized. What happens if the home cannot serve as collateral for the loan?
The Full Building Survey involves a report that is written by our panel of surveyors, and it is their best work. Their equipment is state of the art may even use pole cams (camera poles) for the roofs. Because of this, your surveyor is able to see the accessible areas in an almost microscopic way to produce the most detailed report. This report might cover:
The factors that influence how long a building survey takes are the nature of the property, its size, and the difficulty of its problems. A site inspection usually requires 2-3 hours; this is, of course, a function of the property’s size. If the property is large or if you want specific trouble spots examined, allow for more inspection time.
The answer is: as soon as possible. We recommend that you get the follow-up call on the calendar within one week of receiving the survey report. The purpose of the call is three-fold. First, it allows you to discuss the report with the surveyor in a bit more detail than what may have been covered in the initial debrief. Second, it gives you the opportunity to raise any specific issues that showed up in the report that you’re concerned about or don’t fully understand. Third, it’s a good time to ask the surveyor for recommendations on next steps.
RICS’s industry guidelines suggest building surveys for properties that are large, very old, in some disrepair, or have unusual features. Building surveys are also recommended if you plan to do any significant renovations or extensions.
If you’re purchasing a relatively modern home that’s in decent shape and built to ordinary standards, then a Home Buyer Survey is an acceptable choice. If you want the assurance of an inspection and report that are pretty much guaranteed to turn up any issues that might be hidden or just hard to see, then you should go for a Full Building Survey instead.
The Full Building Survey is more detailed; it is more specifically tailored to the property your surveyor would be inspecting. It also comes with more advice on the visible defects found and on the potential hidden defects that they suspect may be present. Your surveyor will illustrate reports with photographs so that you can clearly see what has been discovered. Both the Home Buyer and Full Building Surveys describe the repairs needed, the order in which the repairs should be done, and the kind of “maintenance measures” that will be required to keep the property in good condition.
A HomeBuyer Report does include a market valuation as well as reinstatement costs. However, a Full Building Survey does not. The main reason for the differences in what is and isn’t included in the two types of reports is how focused the reports are on the condition of the property. The Full Building Survey is the most in-depth and comprehensive survey of a property that you can have done.
The survey can return one of two general results. It can say that all is well or it can return a list of defects, allowing you an opportunity to still walk away from the purchase, negotiate a lower figure, or have the seller carry out the necessary repairs.
If any major issues turn out to be part of the defects list (and major issues can mean something as serious as no basement waterproofing), then the surveyor should advise on what to do. Major issues can also mean a serious impact on the structural integrity of the building, and the conversation with the surveyor can help the potential buyer gauge how much it’s going to hit them in the pocketbook to fix it.
Looking for a Chartered Surveyor? If you are buying a property, contact us for a building survey. Our panel of CIOB, RPSA and RICS surveyors will help you with the Level 2 or Level 3 property survey you need in Notting Hill. We can also assist you in Red Book Valuations, Party Wall Awards and other services. Reach out to us today for building surveyors, valuers and party wall surveyors in London!
