When you live somewhere and you share some common structures like a wall then you will need to learn of some things just so you do not step on anyone's toes.

1. Get To Know The Basics Of A Party Wall Agreement
When you live somewhere and you share some common structures like a wall then you will need to
learn of some things just so you do not step on anyone's toes. It also pays to learn the legalities of such
a situation so that you have a leg to stand on in the event someone complains. One thing you will want
to know about is something called a party wall. To put it simply a party wall is a wall that divides the
buildings belonging to two different people with the boundary usually in between ownerships placed
right at the center of the wall. This sharing of a wall and a boundary may be peaceful but that is until
someone wants to make a move that will concern the wall. When you want to do something that will
affect the wall then you will need what they like to call a party wall agreement which is also called an
award. This party wall agreement or award is a piece of documentation produced by the surveyors or
otherwise known as the agreed surveyor who acts for the owners involved in the party wall agreement.
This document will usually consist of three major parts such as the award itself which is comprised of a
set of guidelines which govern how the works on the wall should go about. You will also have a
schedule of condition concerning the adjoining property and this will often be accompanies by a set of
pictures to act as support. You will also have a third part which consists of drawings which are made to
show the details of the works you want to do on the wall. This party wall agreement is usually based
upon a draft document like the popular ones produced by the RICS. This draft is then amended in
accordance of the specific work that needs to be done. Your draft should very clearly state the details of
the two properties and also details about the owners and their addresses. But it does not end there
because you draft will also need to have the full details of the two surveyors and the third surveyor.
One interesting fact here is that if you have an agreed surveyor then you will not need the third
surveyor. Once the surveyors agree on the surveyors it then gets published and what this means is that
a copy which has been signed and witnesses will be sent to the owners. There is a 14-day appeal period
if one of the two owners disagrees with the award but then, this is a very rare occurrence. Another copy
of the agreement will be passed on to the building owner so they can hand it over to their contractor.
All that talk about the party wall award has a lot of technical terms and very important people
involved. There are the owners and also the contractors. But do not forget that perhaps the most

2. important players here are the party wall surveyors London folks look to for sound advice. The term
"surveyor" as defined in the Party Wall Act of 1996 speaks of any person who is not a party to the
works being proposed. This act rules out any possibility of an owner acting on his own behalf but
anyone else is allowed to take on the role of a surveyor. This may include people who are tasked with
overseeing the works on behalf of the owner and they are usually an engineer or an architect. But
before you choose just anyone to act as your surveyor it may be a good idea to actually choose
someone who has knowledge about things like construction and also someone who is well versed in
party wall procedures. Popular careers for people who want to be surveyors are building surveyors and
also structural engineering.
If you have a party wall and you want some work done to it, you will want to go through the proper
procedures so you do not put yourself in a pickle. If you want to look for the very best party wall
surveyor London has to offer then you just go and look online. There are many firms where party wall
surveying is a specialty.