Payment dispute, opinions needed

[JLJ]

This means that we are now in dispute over fees which is a matter that I can settle by Award.

In that event I would charge the actual time spent together with the costs of making the Award, a ;lot more than what I am proposing now.

I'd rather not do this and I don't want to make this more painful for you than it already is.

However, if my invoice as presented is not paid in full by 30th June 2014 I will immediately proceed to Award without further communication with you.

Non-payment of Awarded fees are a summary debt enforceable in the Magistrates Court and you would also end up with my legal fees as well.

So I get the above threat from a party wall surveyor, what exactly does settle by Award mean and should I be afraid?

Some background to what has lead to this:

I had big plans to extend my house, plans drawn up, council approved, and then the house next door, objects and requests a party wall survey.
The house is looks like a motorcycle grave yard with a tip out the back, but the housing association says it needs it.
So I commission a surveyor, he quotes me

1 Notice @ £50

1 SOC @ £300

1 Award (served on both parties) @ £300

Total £650

Sounds reasonable enough, I give him contact details of housing association, tell him I need to sort things out ASAP and off we go.

Turns out housing association does not have current contact details of tenant, so I go ahead and speak to the neighbour and get some details.
Pass it on, surveyor says tenant is being difficult and doesnt want to give access, anyway they make an appointment, he shows up and they are not around.

So back we go to the housing association, who blank us for ages, then finally say they will organise something.
This drags on for months, we are emailing back and forth but nothing happens.

It drags on so long, I've decided to call off the project, so I assume nothing has actually happened other then a missed appointment and a bunch of emails, so I call surveyor and apologise and say lets call it a day.
Offer to compensate him for his time, I'm thinking 10% of the quote, but he has other ideas. Tells me you 'can probably' just go ahead and build since the house is in a rubbish state and then attaches an invoice for £325!
I'm guessing when a dispute arises, he can just say he didnt do the survey and that absolves him from any responsibility.

I tell him he hasnt provided me with anything or done anything and yet wants half his fee! Straight up he pulls out the above, so I say to him, theres no way in hell I'm paying that for nothing, finish the job and I'll pay the full fee.

TLDR Surveyor hired, surveyor does not conduct survey due to third party, job drags on, surveyor wants half his fees else hes going to make things ******.

The damn housing association screwed us both, but it seems really unfair this guy thinks he should get half his fee for really doing nothing.
Do I have a leg to stand on? or just roll over before I end up paying 2 or 3 x more.

 

[JLJ]

Presumably you signed something when you engaged the surveyor? What does this contract say about the situation?

I'm not even sure what the situation is.
Is the missed appointment my responsibility? I assume managing access and dealing with the third party would be his job not mine.
If he came back and said, ok, give me 20% and we will call it quits, I would not have a problem, instead he's gone nuclear straight off.

If he wasnt a douche, he would see that neither of us are to blame and both write of a small loss, instead he wants to get paid for jack ****.

 

[JLJ]

I assume "Settle by Award" is not actually related to anything he produces and some sort of legal way of making me pay?

Party Wall Surveyors are a bunch of cowboys, apparently you can do some short course and are then eligible to do these surveys.

I have asked him to give me a breakdown of any work he has done and proof of it.
His last reply was I'll get back to you.

He didnt get access to the property, so he hasnt done any surveying.
All he has done is make a couple calls and send a few emails chasing.

 

[JLJ]

Ask him for a breakdown of how exactly he's come to that amount?

As you say, he should be compensated for the missed appointment, but I can't see that coming to half the total quote when he hasn't actually done any work?!

Edit: how did he "tell" you to "go ahead with it anyway"? If it's in a provable format, e.g. a letter or email etc., then I wonder if that would contravene the code of conduct of any professional body the surveyor is a member of. Would be shame for him to lose his professional status...

That was in the last email along with his invoice. I don't think there is anything professional about these surveyors let alone a governing body.

 

[JLJ]

To be honest I'd generally take a 50% deposit on any contract before work begins, which means I still recuperate funds for wasted time if something outside of my control forces the work to not go ahead. I'm not a surveyor, though, so I don't know how he has come to that figure.

Did you sign a contract with him when taking him on board for the work? He should really be providing that, with the stipulation of a percentage or minimum fee regardless of whether the work goes ahead. Without that, he can huff and puff all he likes but he can't enforce anything without providing you with a breakdown of his incurred costs so far.

Only thing I signed was a letter appointing him as a surveyor to act on my behalf. He seems to have gone AWOL, probably fabricating some extensive cost breakdown, that will probably total in the thousands if he actually completed the job.