Overview
Functus officio is a Latin phrase meaning "having performed one's office". In simple terms, it means that once a decision-maker has made a final decision, their job on that particular decision is finished.
In party wall matters, the principle is important because surveyors act as a statutory tribunal. They make awards. They do not have an open-ended right to keep changing their minds.
How it applies to party wall surveyors
Under section 10 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, appointed surveyors or an agreed surveyor resolve disputes between building owners and adjoining owners. Their decision is recorded in a party wall award.
Once a valid award has been made and served, the surveyors are generally functus officio in relation to the dispute decided by that award. They cannot simply re-open it because one owner is unhappy or because they later think different wording would have been better.
The important exceptions
The Act gives surveyors some continuing powers. Those powers mean the strict doctrine is not the whole answer.
For example:
- section 10(14) allows surveyors to correct clerical or typographical errors in an award;
- section 10(15) allows surveyors to determine other matters arising out of, or incidental to, the dispute;
- section 10(17) gives either owner 14 days to appeal an award to the county court.
This means surveyors may be finished with one decision, but not necessarily finished with every issue arising from the works.
What surveyors can and cannot do
Surveyors can usually make further awards dealing with new or incidental matters, such as damage, access, costs or changes in method.
They should not use a further award to re-decide the same issue or rewrite a concluded decision unless the Act gives them power to do so.
Conclusion
Party wall surveyors are functus officio once they have made a valid award on a particular dispute. They cannot endlessly revisit that decision. However, the Act gives them continuing jurisdiction over related or new matters arising from the works. The key is to distinguish between a new matter and an attempt to re-open an old one.