Faulkners Surveyors is an independent company of building surveyors that specialise in the
Party Wall etc. Act 1996 acting for Structure Owners, Adjacent Owners and as the Agreed Surveyor throughout London and the House Counties.
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 impact garden building, nevertheless it does affect the building of limit walls even if not part of structures and can also applies to deep excavations.
The Party Wall Act 1996 entered into force in 1997, so it is now law and offers you rights and obligations whichever the side of the ‘wall’ you are on i.e. whether you are planning/doing deal with a relevant structure or if your neighbour is.
The Party Wall Act does not apply to boundary fences.
The Party Wall Act does not impact any requirement for Planning Authorization for any work carried out. Having Planning Authorization does not negate the requirements under the Party Wall Act.
The Party Wall Act enters into impact if someone is planning to do work on a relevant structure, for the functions of the Act ‘party wall’ does not just suggest the wall between 2 semi-detached properties, as far as gardeners are worried it covers:
- A garden wall, where the wall is astride the boundary line (or butts up against it) and is used to separate the properties but is not part of any building.
- Excavation close to a neighbouring home.
For details of how the Party Wall Act impacts structure work in general, take a look at this page.
Similar to all work affecting neighbours, it is constantly much better to reach a friendly contract instead of resort to any law. Even where the work needs a notice to be served, it is better to informally talk about the intended work, consider the neighbours comments, and modify your plans (if appropriate) before serving the notice.
What garden work requires a notice and consent.
The general concept of the Party Wall Act is that all work which might have a result upon the structural strength or assistance function of the party wall or might trigger damage to the neighbouring side of the wall need to be notified. Recommendations ought to be sought from a local Building Control Workplace or expert surveyor/architect if in doubt.
Work in the garden covered by the Party Wall Act include:
- To rebuild/build a party and/or destroy limit wall.
- To increase the height or density of a party border wall.
- Excavations within 3 metres of a neighbouring building where the excavation will go below the bottom of the foundations of the neighbouring structure.
- Excavations within 6 metres of a neighbouring structure where the excavation will go below a line drawn 45 ° downwards from the bottom of the foundations of the neighbouring building.
Boundary walls
If the prepared work on a boundary wall falls under the Party Wall Act, a notification must be released to all impacted neighbouring celebrations. The notice must include (see sample letters in Part 5 of the Party Wall leaflet):.
- The owners of the property carrying out the work.
- The address of the property.
- A complete description of the proposed work (this will normally be just a single sentence detailing the work).
- The proposed start date for the work.
- A clear statement that the notification is being served under The Party Wall etc Act 1996.
- The date the notice is being served.
- If the work includes excavations, a drawing showing the depth, position and so on
If the planned work is a brand-new limit wall up to or astride the boundary line the procedure of serving a notice under the Party Wall Act is as follows:.
- The individual intending to carry out the work must serve a written notification at least one months prior to the desired start of the work to every neighbouring party providing information of the work to be performed.
- Each neighbouring party should respond in composing offering authorization or registering dissent – if a neighbouring party does nothing within 2 week of receiving the notice, the result is to put the notification into conflict. No formal agreement is required for a wall up to the border line, the neighbour just needs not to object in composing.
- No work might start on a wall astride the boundary line until all neighbouring parties have concurred in writing to the notification (or a revised notification).
See listed below concerning what happens in the event of a dispute/objection.
Excavations.
If the prepared work is an excavation within the distance/depth covered by the Party Wall Act, the notification needs to be served at least one month prior to the planned start day of the work. Neighbouring parties should give written arrangement within 14 days or a conflict is considered to have occurred.
See below concerning what happens in the event of a dispute/objection.
What takes place if a dispute occurs.
If arrangement can not be reached in between neighbouring parties, the procedure is as follows:.
- A Surveyor or Surveyors is/are appointed to figure out a objective and fair Award, either:.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody appropriate to all celebrations).
or. - Each party selects their own Surveyor to represent the private celebrations.
The person who is carrying out the work will normally have to pay all the expenses of the Surveyors, the only exception being if the neighbour calls out a Surveyor unnecessarily – in the viewpoint of the Property surveyor. Nevertheless it must be noted that any Property surveyor needs to act within their statutory obligations and propose a reasonable and unbiased Award.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody appropriate to all celebrations).
- The Agreed Surveyor, or the private Surveyors jointly, will produce an Award which needs to be objective and reasonable to all parties.
- As soon as an Award has been made, all parties have 14 days to attract a County Court versus the Award.
When you have arrangement.
When you have contract, all work needs to comply with the notification. All the agreements should be maintained to guarantee that a record of the granted permission is kept; a subsequent purchaser of the home may wish to develop that the work was carried out in accordance with the Party Wall Act requirements.
Remember:
- We’ve only given a quick overview of the Party Wall Act here as it affects garden work but take a look at the Communities and City government website for a more extensive explanatory booklet consisting of example letters for responses and notifications.
- If a notification gets here unexpectedly, talking about intended work with neighbours is free and can prevent misunderstanding which may arise.
- Your local Building Control Office may be able to give totally free guidance relating to the Party Wall Act and how it applies to particular circumstances.
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