Can a party wall surveyor be sued for negligence?

The vast majority of surveyors who work within the party wall arena discharge their duty in a competent and ethically driven manner.

There are however, a small minority who continue to let the side down. They operate outside the ambit of their statutory appointment and with little attention or care for the interests of the home owners they touch along the way.

 
This presents a problem for many, since once appointed it is very difficult to remove a party wall surveyor. The involvement of an unethical surveyor can often lead to a whole heap of misery and financial loss for the unwitting appointee and or adjoining owner.

 
I am often asked whether faced with this situation is it possible to bring an action against the rogue surveyor to seek legal redress for loss stemming from the negligent delivery of the service provided. In other words, can a party wall surveyor be sued for negligence.

 
For an action in negligence to succeed the claimant will need to show that a duty of care exists, that the surveyor involved has breached that duty, and that there is a causal link between the breach and the actual loss suffered by the claimant. All of these elements must exist. So for example, if there is no loss then there is no entitlement to damages even if a breach can be proved.

 
Duty of Care

 
There is a clear contractual and common law duty owed by a party wall surveyor to the appointing home owner. The duty is to undertake work with reasonable care and skill.

 
Following a section 10 of the Party Wall Act 1996 appointment, there is also a statutory duty owed, not only to the appointing owner, but also to the adjoining owner.

It has been suggested that each surveyor owes a duty of impartiality to each of the appointing parties and that this must take priority to the interests of their own appointing client ( Anstey, J., Party walls and what to do with them, RICS Books 1996, p. 15. See also Anstey, J., Trouble with the Neighbours, College of Estate Management 1983, p. 21).

 
This was recognised in Lahrie Mohamed and Shehara Lahrie V Philip Antino and Raymond Stevens ( 2017) where HHJ Bailey recorded in his judgment the following:

'It is important to note that the provisions of section 10 arise when a “dispute arises or is deemed to have arisen”. Once there is such a dispute, whether actual or deemed, either a single agreed surveyor or three surveyors are appointed, or, strictly, in the case of the third surveyor, selected. Where there are three surveyors two of them will have been appointed by (or occasionally for) one of the owners, whether building owner or adjoining owner. These party-appointed owners do (or should) not however act in any sense as agent for the owner appointing them. 

As the Earl of Lytton said when introducing the Party Wall Bill in the House of Lords on 31 January 1996:

 
“The duty of party wall surveyors is quasi-arbitral. Once appointed they have a duty of act properly in the interests of both parties as statutory surveyors, which is a most important safeguard.”

Breach of Duty

 
So in what circumstances would a breach arise?

The most obvious breach is bias, where a surveyor clearly fails to take into account the interests of both parties. This is not to say one surveyor should not be able to adopt a position which is contrary to that of the other surveyor. Indeed, this is the reason a third surveyor is often appointed. There is nothing wrong with positioning, however the Act has more to do with serving the interests of the parties.

 
As explained the surveyors are under a duty to act fairly and within the spirit of the Act, and to ensure they do not lose sight of the enabling purpose of the Act. The parties are not interested in the construction and interpretation of the Act, the building owner is looking to complete the works, and the neighbouring owner is keen to know what work is to be carried out and what measures will be in place to protect the neighbouring property.

 
So those surveyors who look to create disputes which do not exist and or who use the statutory procedure to constantly argue for no purpose other than to cost build, could clearly be viewed as failing to discharge their statutory and common law duty of care.

Equally, a surveyor who fails to assist parties to reach a quick and inexpensive resolution of issues could also be exposed to a negligence claim. It is clear from the Court of Appeal decision in Gray v Elite Town Management (2016) that the “the statutory procedure is intended to be a simple, inexpensive dispute resolution mechanism”.

 
It could also be argued that a breach could result from a surveyor failing to advise his appointing owner or indeed both owners of alternative dispute resolution options, such as mediation, when, as often occurs, there is a deadlock between the parties.

 
Causation and Loss

 
In the case of a surveyor acting outside of his or her statutory appointment, by, for example, raising countless argument on issues which are no longer in dispute, and or constantly moving the ‘goalposts’, and or unnecessary protraction of the process, and or obstructing/hindering the proceedings and or acting in a confrontational manner, and or using the Act for personal gain, there may exist sufficient evidence to prove a breach.

 
If it can be shown that there is link between the breach(s) and actual financial loss, then the affected party or parties could very well be in a position to bring a negligence claim against the offending surveyor to claim damages.

 
The general aim of an award of damages in tort is to restore the claimant to his pre-incident position. In contract, on the other hand, the aim of a damages award is to put the innocent party in the position he would have been in had the contract been performed.

A damage claim could therefore include :

Extra surveyor fees due to the unnecessary protraction of the process - that is for both building and neighbouring owners

Extra cost/penalties due to the delay in the commencement/continuation of works

Damage to incomplete building works due to prolonged exposure to the elements

Legal costs incurred in addressing issues created by a rogue surveyor

The cost for establishing and running an alternative dispute resolution option

Negligence actions are not for the faint-hearted, though do keep in mind that surveyors operate with professional indemnity insurance cover, and that once a claim is intimated you should find yourself dealing with the surveyor’s insurers rather than the surveyor direct.

 
David Pett - Property Solicitor with MJP Conveyancing