Faulkners Surveyors As qualified and experienced Party Wall Surveyors we specialise in all Party Wall matters.
We cover every aspect required to advise upon and solve Party Wall concerns, such as:
- Preparing and serving legitimate Party Wall Notices
- Acting as the Structure Owners Party Wall Property Surveyor
- Acting as the Adjoining Owners Party Wall Property Surveyor
- Acting as the Agreed Party Wall Surveyor
- Carrying out and preparing Schedules of Condition
- Preparation and settlement of Party Wall Awards
All our Party Wall Surveyors are professionals and work in accordance with the guidelines set down by the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors.
The Party Wall Act etc. 1996 is law, failure to abide by this legislation may lead to works being unlawful.
Party Wall (WikiPedia)
The Party Wall Act 1996
as it impacts the garden
At first sight, it is easy to believe that the 1996 Party Wall Act does not affect garden building, nevertheless it does affect the construction of boundary walls even if not part of structures and can also applies to deep excavations.
The Party Wall Act 1996 came into force in 1997, so it is now law and provides you rights and duties whichever the side of the ‘wall’ you are on i.e. whether you are planning/doing work on a relevant structure or if your neighbour is.
The Party Wall Act does not apply to boundary fences.
The Party Wall Act does not affect any requirement for Preparation Authorization for any work carried out. Similarly, having Planning Permission does not negate the requirements under the Party Wall Act.
The Party Wall Act enters into effect if someone is planning to do deal with a pertinent structure, for the functions of the Act ‘party wall’ does not just indicate the wall in between two semi-detached properties, as far as gardeners are concerned it covers:
- A garden wall, where the wall is astride the limit line (or butts up against it) and is utilized to separate the residential or commercial properties however is not part of any structure.
- Excavation near to a neighbouring property.
For information of how the Party Wall Act affects building work in basic, have a look at this page.
Similar to all work impacting neighbours, it is always much better to reach a friendly arrangement instead of turn to any law. Even where the work needs a notice to be served, it is much better to informally discuss the desired work, consider the neighbours comments, and modify your plans (if suitable) before serving the notification.
What garden work requires a notice and authorization.
The basic concept of the Party Wall Act is that all work which may have an effect upon the structural strength or support function of the party wall or may cause damage to the neighbouring side of the wall need to be alerted. If in doubt, suggestions needs to be looked for from a regional Structure Control Office or professional surveyor/architect.
Work in the garden covered by the Party Wall Act include:
- To demolish and/or rebuild/build a party border wall.
- To increase the height or thickness of a party boundary wall.
- Excavations within 3 metres of a neighbouring structure where the excavation will go below the bottom of the structures of the neighbouring building.
- Excavations within 6 metres of a neighbouring building where the excavation will go below a line drawn 45 ° downwards from the bottom of the foundations of the neighbouring building.
Boundary walls
A notification must be released to all affected neighbouring celebrations if the planned work on a limit wall falls under the Party Wall Act. The notification should consist of (see sample letters in Part 5 of the Party Wall leaflet):.
- The owners of the home undertaking the work.
- The address of the home.
- A complete description of the proposed work (this will usually be simply a single sentence laying out the work).
- The proposed start date for the work.
- A clear declaration that the notice is being served under The Party Wall etc Act 1996.
- The date the notice is being served.
- If the work involves excavations, a drawing showing the depth, position and so on
If the prepared work is a new boundary wall up to or astride the boundary line the process of serving a notification under the Party Wall Act is as follows:.
- The person intending to carry out the work must serve a composed notice a minimum of one months prior to the designated start of the work to every neighbouring party offering details of the work to be performed.
- Each neighbouring party must respond in composing offering permission or signing up dissent – if a neighbouring party does nothing within 14 days of getting the notice, the impact is to put the notice into disagreement. Nevertheless no formal arrangement is needed for a wall up to the boundary line, the neighbour simply requires not to object in writing.
- No work might start on a wall astride the boundary line up until all neighbouring celebrations have concurred in writing to the notice (or a modified notice).
See below concerning what takes place in case of a dispute/objection.
Excavations.
If the planned work is an excavation within the distance/depth covered by the Party Wall Act, the notice requires to be served at least one month before the planned start day of the work. Neighbouring celebrations must offer written contract within 2 week or a disagreement is considered to have actually happened.
See listed below regarding what takes place in the event of a dispute/objection.
What happens if a dispute develops.
If contract can not be reached in between neighbouring parties, the procedure is as follows:.
- A Property surveyor or Surveyors is/are selected to determine a objective and fair Award, either:.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody appropriate to all parties).
or. - Each party selects their own Property surveyor to represent the private celebrations.
The individual who is carrying out the work will usually need to pay all the costs of the Surveyors, the only exception being if the neighbour calls out a Surveyor needlessly – in the viewpoint of the Surveyor. It should be kept in mind that any Surveyor must act within their statutory obligations and propose a fair and objective Award.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody appropriate to all parties).
- The Agreed Surveyor, or the individual Surveyors collectively, will produce an Award which needs to be fair and objective to all celebrations.
- Once an Award has been made, all celebrations have 2 week to attract a County Court against the Award.
Once you have contract.
All work must comply with the notice as soon as you have agreement. All the arrangements need to be maintained to ensure that a record of the granted permission is kept; a subsequent buyer of the home may want to develop that the work was carried out in accordance with the Party Wall Act requirements.
Keep in mind:
- We’ve only provided a quick summary of the Party Wall Act here as it impacts garden work however have a look at the Communities and Local Government website for a more comprehensive explanatory pamphlet consisting of example letters for notifications and responses.
- If a notification shows up suddenly, discussing intended work with neighbours is complimentary and can prevent misunderstanding which might develop.
- Your local Building Control Workplace might have the ability to provide totally free recommendations concerning the Party Wall Act and how it applies to specific scenarios.
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