Professional Advice

Party Wall Surveyors

If you are intending to make alterations to a party wall or build close to or on a boundary (close to a boundary can even be as far as 6 metres, 20 feet, in some cases), or if you want to alter the existing boundary wall there is a good chance you will need to formally notify your neighbour under the Party Wall etc Act 1996.

It is vital to get accurate advice at an early stage and our input as Party Wall Surveyors could help your designer gain useful space for your development or avoid unnecessary confrontation with your neighbour.

The Act is there to enable works while protecting the adjoining owners by allowing assessment of neighbouring property and sometimes requiring safeguards to be built into the scheme.

Three of our Surveyors are members of the local branch of the Pyramus and Thisbe club for party wall practitioners so are well placed to advise on your initial plans, serving accurate and valid notices and dealing with “disputes” that can arise under the Act.

Dilapidations

The “stitch in time” is vital to dilapidations: it can make a difference of many tens of thousands of pounds for landlords needing to secure a new tenant for your building and tenants being able to avoid spurious claims from unscrupulous landlords.

In law there is no such thing as dilapidations but this is the term solicitors and surveyors use to show the disrepair or alteration of a building and other breaches of covenant during or at the end of a lease.

Even if you can’t bring us in early (call us four to six months before the end of your lease if you can) we have much experience acting for both tenants and landlords.

Our Building Surveyors are well placed to advise tenants on how to leave the property in good repair at the end of a lease and how to manage any claim from the landlord; but we also pride ourselves on preparing accurate and reasonable schedules of dilapidations to protect the landlord’s property.

Our valuation surveyors have the ability to prepare specialist diminution valuations to help calculate the landlord’s loss once the lease has ended.

Our aim is always to help the parties reach a suitable settlement avoiding costly court proceedings.

Fire Risk Assessments

Are you a Responsible Person? The definition is surprisingly far reaching under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order which now requires the Responsible Person to have a Fire Risk Assessment of the premises they have control over in order to protect building users.

Croft Surveyors have training in Fire Risk Assessment and, crucially, we have found that our pragmatic and accurate approach as Chartered Surveyors avoids the danger of costly and un-necessary over-reaction that blights some of the “tick box” inspections you may have come across.

After the FRA we can help you manage risks and prepare your bespoke Fire Emergency Plan and Personal Emergency Evacuation Procedures to ensure you manage your obligations under the RRO.

Energy Performance Certificates

Letting or selling a commercial building? You will now need a Commercial Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) before you start marketing. This is not the checklist inspection you need to sell a house but an in-depth assessment of the energy use of your building. A similar type of assessment is also needed for display on many public buildings.

Speak with Croft Surveyors’ qualified EPC assessor to discuss your requirements.

Capital Allowances (tax)

After the changes to tax allowances on embedded plant, Croft Surveyors can work with your accountant to save you money by valuing your building and embedded plant; allowing us to calculate your claim for plant, integral features and machinery allowances.