Repair by the building owner's builder
Advantages: no cost or organisation on your part, and the builder is usually already on site.
Disadvantages: you may not want the same builder back in your home, and finish quality can be a concern.
Payment instead of repair
The Act allows the adjoining owner to ask for the cost of making good to be paid to them instead of the work being done by the building owner. The surveyors decide the amount.
Advantages: you choose the contractor and the timing.
Disadvantages: you organise the work, and if the payment proves too low you may bear the difference.
How the amount is worked out
The surveyors assess the reasonable cost of putting the damage right, usually by pricing the work themselves or obtaining quotations. It may include:
- Repairs to plaster, brickwork or the roof
- Redecoration of the affected area, often a whole wall or room for a consistent finish
- Any reasonable related costs
What is not usually covered
Pre-existing damage recorded in the schedule of condition, and improvements beyond restoring the original condition.
Where this comes from in the Act
Links go to the official text of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 on legislation.gov.uk.