Overview
Question: What should a surveyor consider when setting an hourly rate for adjoining owner appointments? Should the building owner's surveyor question the adjoining owner's surveyor if the proposed fee appears excessive?
The short answer is yes. A surveyor's fee must be reasonable. If the hourly rate or the time claimed appears excessive, the building owner's surveyor should ask for a proper explanation.
What should influence an hourly rate?
A reasonable hourly rate should reflect the nature of the work, the surveyor's experience and the local market. Relevant factors include:
- the surveyor's experience, qualification and specialist knowledge;
- the complexity of the project and the risk involved;
- the location of the property and the local market for party wall services;
- the surveyor's overheads, but only so far as they remain proportionate;
- the amount of work that was genuinely necessary to deal with the dispute.
Chartered status and seniority may justify a higher rate, but they do not justify unlimited time or inefficient working. A high hourly rate must be matched by skill, efficiency and useful output.
Benchmarking the rate
A practical way to test an hourly rate is to compare it with local market rates and with the surveyor's own charging structure for similar building owner work. If a surveyor regularly charges a fixed fee for a straightforward party wall award, that can help identify the effective hourly rate they consider reasonable for comparable work.
For example, if a surveyor charges GBP750 for work that would normally take about six hours, the effective rate is around GBP125 per hour. That does not set a fixed rule, but it gives a useful benchmark.
Salary and overhead calculations can also assist. A surveyor earning around GBP60,000 per year might reasonably need to generate two-and-a-half to three times salary in fees to cover overheads and profit. Depending on productive hours, that may produce an indicative rate in the region of GBP120 to GBP140 per hour. The figure will vary, but the principle is that the calculation should make commercial sense.
Challenging excessive fees
Where the adjoining owner's surveyor's fee appears high, the building owner's surveyor should usually ask for:
- the hourly rate used;
- a time breakdown;
- a description of the work carried out;
- copies of relevant correspondence or documents where necessary;
- an explanation of why the work was required.
The aim is not to argue for the sake of it. The aim is to ensure that the building owner pays reasonable expenses, not excessive or poorly evidenced charges.
Conclusion
Hourly rates should be transparent, proportionate and capable of justification. If the proposed fee seems high, it is entirely proper for the building owner's surveyor to ask questions and request a detailed breakdown. That protects the building owner and helps keep the party wall process fair.