Inform Surveying Ltd

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Inform Surveying Ltd Inform Surveying is a trusted UK-based firm specialising in property consultancy, chartered building surveying, and project management. Regulated by the RICS.

Chartered Building Surveyors & Project Managers covering all aspects of Commercial and Residential property.

The Party Wall Act protects you, not just them.It's easy to assume the Party Wall Act exists purely to slow a building o...
05/10/2026

The Party Wall Act protects you, not just them.

It's easy to assume the Party Wall Act exists purely to slow a building owner down. It doesn't. It's what makes certain works legally possible in the first place. Cutting into a shared wall, for instance, isn't something you're entitled to do without it.

For the adjoining owner, there's a practical point most people miss. In most cases the building owner pays your surveyor's reasonable fees, not you. Adjoining owners often assume appointing a surveyor will cost them money, so they do nothing and end up with no protection once work starts next door.

The Act isn't red tape bolted onto development. It's what lets development happen with the neighbour properly protected, and usually at no direct cost to that neighbour.



www.informsurveying.co.uk

Sheffield hasn't got an empty office problem.It has a shortage of good ones.New and Grade A office vacancy in Sheffield ...
05/10/2026

Sheffield hasn't got an empty office problem.

It has a shortage of good ones.

New and Grade A office vacancy in Sheffield city centre sits at 1.48%, with nothing at all under construction between now and 2028. In the same year, the council put Moorfoot, the city's largest office, on the market for conversion to around 320 homes.

Both of those are true at once. Employers aren't refusing city centre space. They're refusing the space that no longer works, and paying more for less of the space that does.

The question worth asking isn't home versus office. It's what a building has to do to earn the journey in.



Source: Knight Frank, Q2 2026

A house built for the Sitwell family in 1777. A Grade 2* listing. A brief to turn it into a care home without losing wha...
29/09/2026

A house built for the Sitwell family in 1777. A Grade 2* listing. A brief to turn it into a care home without losing what makes it special.

That's the balance we're managing for Hermes Care in Sheffield, appointed as Building Regulation Principal Designer for Phase 1 of a project that asks two very different things of the same building at once: sympathetic historic conservation, and a fully functioning, fully compliant modern care setting.

Listed buildings don't bend to convention, and this one comes with real constraints. Original features need protecting, which means some Building Regulation requirements can't simply be applied in their standard form. Instead, they need careful assessment and, where appropriate, dispensation, all without compromising the safety and functionality the finished care home needs to deliver. It's a project where every decision has to be weighed against both regulatory compliance and heritage responsibility, and where getting that balance wrong in either direction has real consequences.

Working under a JCT Traditional Contract alongside an extensive design team, our role has involved reviewing the drawings, planning and managing the design matters, and working hand in hand with the Architect acting as Lead Designer throughout. To bring structure to a project with this many moving parts, we built a dedicated Design Matrix, a tool created specifically to assess, plan and manage the complexity this scheme presents. Regular meetings keep every stakeholder, from the design team to the client, aligned as the project progresses.

It's the kind of project that rewards patience and precision in equal measure. Rush a listed building conversion and you risk losing the very character that makes it worth preserving. Move too cautiously and the practical realities of running a care home get compromised instead.

Heritage and compliance aren't opposites. They just need a team that understands both, and the judgement to know when each one needs to lead.



Talk to Gavin Sampson MRICS about heritage and listed building projects: [email protected]

This week, Gavin sat on a filmed panel for the Sheffield Property Association to talk about the return to the office.The...
29/09/2026

This week, Gavin sat on a filmed panel for the Sheffield Property Association to talk about the return to the office.

The brief was simple: bring something the room hasn't already heard.

So he didn't argue culture, or flexibility, or Gen Z. He argued infrastructure, building quality, and what a surveyor actually sees and hears when nobody's around to be a sounding board, or listen out and pick up on issues and concerns.

The blog is coming. In the meantime, here's the case he took into that room, one post at a time.


Your neighbour is building. Now what?If work near a shared boundary is notifiable under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, yo...
21/09/2026

Your neighbour is building. Now what?

If work near a shared boundary is notifiable under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, your neighbour has to serve written notice before it starts, and the notice period depends on the work.

A party structure notice, for cutting into a shared wall, needs two months. A line of junction notice, for a new wall at the boundary, needs one month. An excavation notice, for foundations near your building, also needs one month.

What your silence does next depends on which notice you were served, and this is where people come unstuck.

For a party structure notice or an excavation notice, you have 14 days to reply in writing. Miss it and you'll get a ten-day letter giving you one more chance. Let that run out too and you're in a dispute, resolved by surveyors, with one appointed for you if you still haven't appointed your own. Staying quiet isn't staying neutral.

A line of junction notice works differently, and there are two versions of it. If the new wall is to straddle the boundary, sitting on your land as well as theirs, your neighbour needs your written consent and you're entitled to withhold it. Withhold it and they can still build, but only wholly on their own land and at their own cost. If the notice already says the wall will be wholly on their own land, there's nothing for you to consent to. That one is telling you, not asking you.

Not every job next door needs a notice. The Act's triggers are specific. But when one does land on your doormat, read which notice it is before you decide to ignore it.



www.informsurveying.co.uk

When Building Regulations introduced a brand new duty, the industry had to move fast. We were ready.Since 1 October 2023...
15/09/2026

When Building Regulations introduced a brand new duty, the industry had to move fast. We were ready.

Since 1 October 2023, Part 2A of the Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 has required a Principal Designer on every project where Building Regulations apply, a role that simply didn't exist in this form before. For clients and contractors alike, that meant a new layer of planning, coordination and accountability to build into every project from day one, whether the scheme was already underway or just starting out.

For The Pub People's refurbishment and fit-out of The Dukeries Lodge in Edwinstowe, that's exactly the role we stepped into.

Our team took on the duties under Regulation 11D from the outset: planning, managing and monitoring the design work through to completion on site. In practice, that meant a consistent presence throughout the project. We sat in on design team meetings, joined contract meetings, and worked closely with the appointed interior designer to keep design decisions aligned with Building Regulations requirements as the scheme evolved, rather than catching issues after the fact.

The result speaks for itself: a circa £890k refurbishment and fit-out programme, covering everything needed to bring pub and hotel facilities up to modern standards, delivered against a regulatory framework that was, at the time, brand new to the entire industry.

Being first through a new regulation isn't about ticking a box. It's about proving the process works under real conditions, on a live commercial site, with genuine budget and timeline pressure. That's precisely where our experience made the difference for The Pub People.

New regulation. Same standard we've always held ourselves to.



Talk to Nick Cammack MRICS about Principal Designer (Building Regulations) support: [email protected]

Interim or terminal, the schedule that catches people outAn interim schedule can be served during the lease term. An ant...
18/08/2026

Interim or terminal, the schedule that catches people out
An interim schedule can be served during the lease term. An anticipated terminal schedule is typically served in the final year of the term as the lease expiry approaches. A final schedule is served after the lease has ended.

Leases run for years, and the obligations sitting quietly in the lease covenants gets forgotten. Larger organisations account for dilapidations as a cost through the term. Everyone else finds out at the worst moment. Smaller businesses without a dedicated finance function are usually the ones caught out.

Know which schedule you’re looking at, and why, before you respond to it.

Real questions deserve real answers. Drop Jonathan Gobie a message and let's talk about what's next for your property.

www.informsurveying.co.uk

Dilapidations isn’t confrontation. It’s clarity.Most disputes don’t start with a difficult landlord or an unreasonable t...
14/08/2026

Dilapidations isn’t confrontation. It’s clarity.

Most disputes don’t start with a difficult landlord or an unreasonable tenant. They start earlier than that, at the point a lease was signed without proper advice.

Tenants often assume “leaving it as I found it” is the standard. It isn’t. Repairing obligations are set out in the lease itself, and if nobody explained them at the outset, the first real conversation happens years later, at the worst possible time.

At INform, we treat dilapidations as a matter of obligation, not blame. Proper advice, given early, removes the guesswork on both sides. Confidence before commitment. That’s the standard.

Real questions deserve real answers. Drop Jonathan Gobie a message and let's talk about what's next for your property.

www.informsurveying.co.uk

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What Does a Fund Monitor Actually Do? A Step-by-Step GuideFund monitoring is often described in general terms; independe...
04/08/2026

What Does a Fund Monitor Actually Do?
A Step-by-Step Guide

Fund monitoring is often described in general terms; independent oversight, lender protection, risk management. But what does it look like in practice? Here's our step-by-step methodology.

Stage 1: Pre-Start Baseline Review
Before construction begins, we review all key project documentation: development agreement, building contract, professional team appointments, planning permissions, building regulations, warranties, insurance policies, and cost plans. This establishes our baseline and identifies any pre-commencement risks.

Stage 2: Initial Drawdown Certification
We verify that all pre-conditions for the first drawdown are satisfied; site preparation complete, contractor mobilised, statutory approvals in place, insurance active. Only then do we certify the initial release.

Stage 3: Monthly Site Inspections
Each month, our chartered surveyor visits site, inspects construction progress, assesses workmanship quality, reviews health and safety compliance, and photographs key elements. This forms the basis of our independent assessment.

Stage 4: Independent Valuation
Against the contractor's drawdown application, we provide our own independent assessment of work completed and materials on site. Discrepancies are investigated and reported, protecting lenders from overpayment.

Stage 5: Comprehensive Monthly Reporting
Our report covers: progress assessment, cost plan review, programme status, risk register update, compliance status, and our certification recommendation. Clear, concise, and actionable.

Stage 6: Practical Completion and Closeout
At completion, we verify the defects liability position, review final account settlement, confirm statutory sign-offs, and provide our assessment of the scheme's overall delivery against the original brief.

At every stage, our obligation is entirely to the lender. That independence is what makes fund monitoring genuinely valuable.

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Request our Fund Monitoring service overview → informsurveying.co.uk

The Critical Role of Independent Fund Monitoring in Construction FinanceIn today's complex construction landscape, prote...
04/08/2026

The Critical Role of Independent Fund Monitoring in Construction Finance

In today's complex construction landscape, protecting financial interests requires more than basic oversight; it demands expert, independent fund monitoring.

What sets effective fund monitoring apart?

Independence. The fund monitor's obligation runs entirely to the lender. This means our assessment of site progress, contractor valuations, and project risks is completely impartial.

Expertise. Certifying drawdown applications requires the technical knowledge to assess construction quality, identify structural risks, understand programme logic, and evaluate cost plan integrity.

Communication. The most technically rigorous report is worthless if it doesn't reach the right people in time to act. Our reporting is designed to be clear, timely, and actionable.

Our recent Sheffield residential development demonstrates this in practice: a fast-moving 38-apartment scheme, a lender whose exposure needed careful management throughout. Through proactive, independent monitoring, we ensured the lender's exposure never exceeded agreed thresholds. Full loan repayment within six months of completion. Zero disputes throughout.

Construction projects involve inherent risks. Expert, independent fund monitoring ensures those risks are managed with precision, foresight, and complete transparency.


Address

102-103 Hague, Park Hill, South Street
Sheffield
S25AS

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5:30pm
Friday 9am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+441143219919

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