Party wall surveyor in Surrey

Where we work in Surrey

Banstead, Tadworth and Kingswood are our home patch, and we reach Reigate, Redhill, Epsom, Caterham and the surrounding area easily. We also act in Elmbridge and Spelthorne, around Guildford and Dorking, and across the border in West Sussex.

What Surrey projects have in common

• Large plots and trees, which make foundations and the Section 6 tests the main question. See rear and side extensions.
• Detached houses, which many owners think are exempt. They can be caught by Section 1 or Section 6. See does the Act apply to a detached house.
• Interwar semis and terraces, where loft conversions and chimney work load the shared wall. See loft conversions.
• Rebuilds and basements, common where older houses on large plots are being replaced. See basements and underpinning.
• Older houses and cottages, where records matter. See schedule of condition.

Ground and foundations in Surrey

What lies under a house often decides which notices are needed. Large parts of north Surrey sit on London Clay, which shrinks in dry summers and swells in wet winters, especially near trees. Foundations there are often designed deeper to get below that movement, and a deeper foundation is exactly what can bring an extension within the 3 metre or 6 metre rules of Section 6, even beside a detached house.

Further south, the chalk of the North Downs runs across the county past Guildford, Dorking, Reigate and Caterham, with sandstone and clay beyond it towards Horley and Crawley. Slopes, retaining walls and terraced gardens are common on the Downs, and they raise their own questions when you dig near a boundary. It pays to have the engineer’s foundation design early, because it is the depth and position of the new foundation, not the size of the project, that decides whether Section 6 applies.

Fixed fees across the county

A notice is £70, a schedule of condition is £350 and an award starts at £600, with no VAT, quoted in writing. See how our fees work or call 0800 999 1947.