Adjoining Owners

If you receive a Notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 you will have 14 days to carefully decide whether to consent or dissent to your neighbours’ proposals.  Whichever way you decide, this will need to be in writing.  How you respond will depend on the complexity of the works your neighbours are proposing and how you view the potential risk of damage to your property.  If the 14 day period passes without you responding or appointing a Party Wall Surveyor a further letter would be sent to you requesting that you either consent or dissent to the Notice.  After a further 10 day period has elapsed, a Dispute would have arisen and the Building Owners have the ability to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor on your behalf if you had not confirmed your decision within this additional 10 day period. 

Unfortunately, this situation occurs far too often.  Sometimes the Building Owners are not aware that the Act exists. Sometimes they are aware, but choose to ignore the Act.

We would suggest that should you have such a situation, you act quickly and contact us so that we can advise you accordingly.

No. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is a facilitating piece of legislation.  In essence, the Act is a dispute resolution process to prevent neighbours having to fight to obtain a legal judgement to undertake building works.  Some Adjoining Owners believe that if they ignore the Building Owners’ Notice they can frustrate the Party Wall process.  However, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 sets out defined timescales in which Adjoining Owners have to respond following the serving of a Notice and, if Adjoining Owners continue to ignore a Notice, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 allows the Building Owners to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor on behalf of the Adjoining Owners so that the process can continue.

If the Building Owners wish to undertake works for the sole benefit of the Building Owners, usually the Building Owners would have to pay all reasonable costs involved in agreeing a Party Wall Award.  However, things need to be put into perspective.  With the best of intentions, no one sets out to cause damage to a neighbouring property.  However, in reality, things can and do go wrong.  Without the Act, the only way you will be able to redress any disputed damage is through the courts, which would test the best of neighbour relationships, not to mention the expense you will incur having to take your neighbours to court.  Furthermore, the small cost involved in agreeing a Party Wall Award will be minimal compared to how much their building works will cost overall.

We would recommend that if the works were of a simple nature the Adjoining Owners could consider appointing one single Party Wall Surveyor, referred to within the Act as the “Agreed Surveyor”.  Hurst Chartered Surveyors’ act as the Agreed Surveyor often and we would be happy to advise of the advantages and disadvantages of using one surveyor.

Yes you can. However, any errors or omissions contained in the Notice can render it invalid which would require you to serve a further Notice with the potential of delaying your building project. Hurst Chartered Surveyors provides a Party Wall Notice drafting service. 

The failure or avoidance of serving a Notice can lead to expensive delays and legal costs if the Adjoining Owners seek to stop the Building Owners work. 

The Adjoining Owners can apply for a Court Injunction against the Building Owners or their Builder to stop unauthorised works.  The Adjoining Owners can even apply for a Mandatory (pulling down) Injunction against works wholly or partly completed. 

The case of Louis vs Sadiq (1997) ended up in court after Sadiq undertook notifiable works to his terraced house without serving a Notice on Louis, the Adjoining Owner.  The works caused damage to the adjacent property owned by Louis who was in the process of selling the property and buying another property when the damage occurred. 

Louis obtained an Injunction restraining Sadiq from continuing with the works until Sadiq complied with the Act.  Sadiq subsequently complied with the Act and was ordered to repair the damage caused to Louis property.  Sadiq was also found liable for the consequential losses suffered by Louis in not being able to sell the property, plus the abortive purchasing costs for the property they were in the process of buying when the damage caused by Sadiq occurred.

If after serving a valid Party Wall Notice your neighbour consents in writing then yes, you can proceed with your works.  However, you and any contracted builder will still have a duty of care to carry out the works diligently and you will still be liable for any damage under common law. 

Please note, a recent court judgement between Onigbanjo vs Pearson (2008) clarified that an Adjoining Owner who had previously consented to the proposed works detailed on the Building Owner’s Notice could later change their mind and dissent to the Notice, triggering the provisions of the Act.

This question needs to be answered in two parts depending upon the distance your project is from the neighbouring existing building. Firstly, if your project is within 3 metres of the neighbouring property and your excavations are going to be deeper than the neighbouring existing foundations, you will need to serve a Notice under Section 6(2) of the Act

We often get asked this question as most people who have a wall or floor/ceiling structure (as defined within the Act) dividing their property from a neighbouring property believes that each neighbour owns their half of the wall or structure.  However, from the perspective of the Act, owners should consider the wall or structure in joint ownership.  The wall is owned by both parties for the full thickness of the wall or structure.

This will depend on many factors. However, Hurst Chartered Surveyors can provide you with a fixed cost once all of the details are known about the works. In most normal circumstances, it is the Building Owners (the party instigating and benefiting from the works) who will be responsible for paying the appointed Party Wall surveyor(s) fees, even if the Adjoining Owners appoint their own surveyor.

We would disagree.  Building Owners should remember that the Party Wall Act is a facilitating Act.  Some of the benefits include:  enabling Building Owners to carry out works legally, providing defined timescales to prevent others from delaying your project, offering protection from future claims of damage, and, preventing the expense of going to court.  

Furthermore, the Act can provide access onto neighbouring land to execute any necessary works in pursuance with the Act, including the placing of scaffolding upon their land to facilitate the works.  No other piece of current legislation can provide this benefit.

If the wall is a Party Wall your neighbour can use the wall. However, your neighbour would have to pay you their share of the cost to construct the wall at the current industry rate for such works. For example, if we assume that to construct this same wall today would cost £2,000, your neighbour would have to pay you £1,000 to use the wall originally built by you or by any previous owner of your property, regardless of what it actually cost when the Party Wall was built.

It is compulsory to serve notices if the works are covered under the Act, so, for example, if neighbours are extending along a boundary, or excavating within 3/6m, or undertaking works affecting a party structure (ceiling / wall), it is advised that you provide appropriate written notice to the owners and occupiers. If the notices are not consented to, then an award (agreement) will need to be drawn up by a party wall surveyor such as Hurst Chartered Surveyors.

Hurst Chartered Surveyors offers advice on the procedure, obligations and responsibilities. The first point of action is it review the proposed plans and confirm if the works meet the criteria under the Act. If so, then the relevant Party Wall Notices are served to all affected neighbours. If the notices are dissented to, then the Surveyor or Surveyors will then conduct a site visit and prepare a schedule of condition of neighbouring property. Once this is done, the Surveyor/s finalise the terms of the Party Wall Award and serve this forthwith to all owners at which time building works can commence.

Yes, however, this should be brought to the attention of the Surveyor/s at first instance. You also have the right to appeal the Award at the County Court within 14 days of service of the Award but this needs to not be taken lightly as there may be costs incurred if unsuccessful. 

Generally no, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 was introduced to stop expensive litigation between two property owners and instead introduce the role of expert Party Wall Surveyors in the specific field.

The notice is valid for one year, it is best not to serve it too long before you are looking to start your work. As a minimum notice should be served two months prior to your intended start date, of course, this does not guarantee a start date, but it allows sufficient time for the work of Surveyors to be completed if there is a dispute.

No, because the Party Wall Act does not have any provisions that can be used to resolve boundary disputes. These disputes must be resolved through Boundary Surveyors, the Courts or by mutual agreement.

Generally no, unless this is mutually agreed by both owners. Note that works commencing before valid notices and if required a Party Wall Award can lead to an injunction

If your neighbour has commenced works that are notifiable under the Party Wall etc. Act without serving the appropriate valid notices then a temporary injunction can be applied for at the County Court by the Adjoining Owner (neighbouring property). This will mean that a court order prevents works from continuing until a Surveyors has been appointed to finalise a Party Wall Award. Unfortunately, an injunction can be costly for the Building Owner carrying out works for failure to follow due legislation.