Expert Witness

We recently worked with Vernon, of MSA, on two of our residential projects to facilitate the party wall awards for each project.
Vernon was extremely helpful and efficient throughout the process, providing us with reliable advice that would create the best outcome for both our clients and their neighbours.
One of the projects had multiple party wall awards to agree, being a difficult backland site in central London, and Vernon made the process seem seamless.
We will definitely work with MSA again following our experience on the last two projects – thanks for all your hard work!’

We require the services of Party Wall Surveyors for the majority of our projects and consistently use Vernon Siva of MSA. We have been working with them for many years, and never hesitate to recommend their services to all our clients who have been consistently pleased with MSA services.

I used Vernon and his company MSA to obtain party wall notices for a loft conversion. It was a very tricky situation with the neighbouring house due to it being vacant and the owner having sadly passed away. Vernon helped me through this process and was very professional throughout. In the end it required a party wall award, and this was conducted in a timely and professional manner. I would recommend Vernon for any work relating to this.

Could I give a massive thank you to MSA and Vernon Siva in particular, who guided us through a protracted and technically complex issue with a build next door over a period of five years. Vernon was very proactive and was always available to talk us through the various issues connected with party walls and foundations in clear, easy to understand terms. In the end we achieved a solution with which everyone was happy and I am not sure that this would have been the outcome had Vernon not been assigned our case. We are very grateful!
The Party Wall process can appear daunting to many homeowners but Vernon and his team
make it straightforward, simple and achievable without stress. Their approach is friendly,
pro-active and always problem solve whilst maintaining good relations all around. I’m very
happy to recommend their services.

MSA have been very helpful and professional, every time I have called you were available and your advice was concise, to the point, very clearly and well explained (even to a layman like me) and the entire process was conducted very well and quickly.

Ian Martin provided me with sound; independent and professional advice on which I am now progressing. It has taken such a burden off me and my husband and Ian Martin despite his busy work schedule has made himself available and taken the time and effort to appropriately advise me so that we can move forward and finally enjoy our home.

I worked with MSA for a Party Wall Agreement with our neighbours, to build a side return extension.  This involved multiple agreements, including freehold, individual house owner and housing association agreements.  
 
From the beginning, MSA were professional, thorough and clear on process. For example, MSA quickly established the requirements and the introductory letter set out all the possible scenarios and their associated timescales and costs.  I was able to proceed without ambiguity, and engage smoothly with the other professionals, such as the Engineer and Architect.

During the process, MSA showed excellent technical and professional skills, including dealing with some very demanding neighbours.  They were very rigorous and discerning, and crucially were able to negotiate effectively with the adjoining house owners' surveyor to achieve the multiple party wall agreements as we needed.

I would like to thank them for their work, and it was fantastic to work with a team who were outstanding professionally and technically.

I am writing to express my appreciation of the high degree of professionalism, timeliness, empathy and due regard demonstrated by you and your colleagues throughout this matter. I feel much reassured (and equally informed) as a consequence of your Company’s involvement on my behalf.

The whole process from start to finish was handled with great care, efficiency and professionalism. MSA ensured we were kept informed at all times and was always available to answer queries and provide support - a first class personal service!

Professional, knowledgeable, calm, comforting and with a lovely  warm sense of humour, Vernon Siva is the most wonderful Party Wall Surveyor (and Party Wall Therapist!)

My advice is (1) Don’t take a short cut on not securing a Party Wall Surveyor – the investment will be worth every penny (2) Choose Vernon Siva as your Party Wall Surveyor – even my builder and the neighbours were impressed with his approach.  He is that rare combination of a wonderful listener – someone who understands – and a professional guide who is also willing to talk to the builder/neighbour etc too on your behalf.  He and his colleague Will also did a thorough schedule of condition and offered to be there not just for the duration of the build, but also further down the line should there be any questions. 

I feel I am in the safest hands and could not recommend him more highly.

We appointed Vernon Siva from Martin Surveying Associates as our Party Wall Surveyor when rebuilding and extending the conservatory at our house, and thought that he did an excellent job for us.  Vernon was very thorough, professional, well informed and consistent in his advice to us throughout the construction of our new party wall.  He helped us to successfully put party wall agreements in place with both of our neighbours, and he did an excellent job in guiding our builders through the construction of the new party wall along the boundary line, ensuring correct alignment and visiting the site numerous times to ensure the job was done properly.  He also remained in communication with us throughout the building process, and we felt confident in his advice at all times.  It was a genuine pleasure to have Vernon as our party wall surveyor in our building works and would therefore highly recommend him without reservation.

We cannot thank Ian at Martin Surveying enough for all their help with our Party Wall agreement.  We were absolutely clueless about the procedure and found it all rather daunting.  Ian guided us through with great ease and confidence. Their approach and 100% commitment and professionalism saw us through.  Would highly recommend!!

I recently required the services of a party wall surveyor in order to construct a basement. On the recommendation of a friend I was put in touch with Martin Surveying Associates, the party wall agreements were awarded relatively quickly and very efficiently at a reasonable cost. Vernon Siva was very professional and I can highly recommend the services of Martin Surveying Associates.

We recently engaged MSA to undertake the building survey of the party walls of our house. MSA have been very thorough and efficient, so much so that you discovered that one wall was in fact solely ours. I would definitely recommend their services to others.

Contacted Martin Surveying Associates for party wall agreement advice, helped me work out the correct path based on the work being done. Report was prepared quickly, excellent service and won't hesitate to use again.

As a design and build company specialising in residential loft conversions, we frequently require the services of a party wall surveyor. We have recommended MSA to our clients for many years, who have always been pleased with the high level of service provided. MSA provide a breadth of expertise that has helped overcome obstacles for our clients and projects and we would happily recommend them.

Vernon Siva and his team at MSA have been a pleasure to work with. They have been expert at navigating a complex set of agreements, with excellent communication with all parties allowing this process to go smoothly for all involved. We wouldn’t hesitate to use them again and would definitely recommend the firm to others.

I want to express my gratitude to Vernon, who dealt with the party wall notices and agreements required for our loft conversion. We were under a very tight schedule and Vernon kindly and professionally worked around our timings to have everything ready by the deadline in a most seamless process. On the way, he also found means to improve the structure of the construction to the benefit of both neighbours and us. It will all look better because of him!

MSA came highly recommended to us from a friend who had used them before. Mr Siva was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He was able to effectively sort our party wall award. We are very happy with how he handled all the challenges involved in the process. We highly recommend him

I recently contacted MSA on behalf of my elderly parents who don’t speak great English. Vernon and the team gave amazing service, they were very prompt, caring and professional in the service they provided. I could not recommend them highly enough or been more satisfied and pleased with the service they provided.

We required a party wall agreement for our rear extension and loft conversion. This was our first time going through such a process and Vernon from MSA was hugely helpful in guiding us and helping to answer our questions. Thanks to Vernon the party wall awards were done in a timely manner and served with plenty of notice before work began. We thank Vernon for all his support and would recommend Vernon from MSA for any work related to this.

Working with Vernon, I have found him to be extremely professional and efficient. He has identified areas needing to be specifically addressed to mitigate potential issues down the road and ensured resolutions with consensus (where possible) have been sought. Vernon has shared his knowledge and options throughout the processes working with the architects to get amendments pushed through and as such has taken a lot of the stress out of the situation has he has driven the process and engaged me as and when required.