In article , Jl wrote:
What would we need to do from our our side if we ask for a
"formal award"? Would we need to find and hire the "third
surveyor" (their wording). I think that they must mean a third
party surveyor.

You have the right to appoint your own surveyor whose reasonable
fees should be paid by the person doing the work. If you do, the
first thing the two surveyors should do is to agree on a third
surveyor: in my very limited experience of these things some years
back we agreed that the third surveyor should be "someone nominated
by the President of the RICS" (he delegates this to a department).
In 99% of cases the third surveyor is never involved: they are there
to act as an arbitrator if the two surveyors cannot agree. Your
surveyor will draw up a schedule of condition of the relevant parts
of your property (with photos as necessary) and the other surveyor
will be asked to agree it before any work is done. It's 100% better
than just taking your own photos and trying to prove their validity
at a later date.

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