We are fully certified professional Party Wall Surveyors with years of experience producing Arrange of Condition reports and legally serving Party Wall Agreements and Notices.
With offices in Central, South and North London it makes us perfectly positioned to serve Greater London and the surrounding counties.
Whether you’re a Structure Owner preparing a brand-new job or a neighbour who has actually been served a Party Wall Notification our knowledge and experience guarantees we are constantly best prepared to help with your Party Wall requirements.
Call now and talk to a Professional Surveyor for friendly professional guidance.
Party Wall (WikiPedia)
A party wall (occasionally parti-wall or parting wall, also known as common wall or as a demising wall) is a dividing partition between two adjoining buildings that is shared by the occupants of each residence or business. Typically, the builder lays the wall along a property line dividing two terraced houses, so that one half of the wall’s thickness lies on each side. This type of wall is usually structural. Party walls can also be formed by two abutting walls built at different times. The term can be also used to describe a division between separate units within a multi-unit apartment complex. Very often the wall in this case is non-structural but designed to meet established criteria for sound and/or fire protection, i.e. a firewall.
The Party Wall Act 1996
as it impacts the garden
At first sight, it is simple to think that the 1996 Party Wall Act does not impact garden building, nevertheless it does impact the construction of border walls even if not part of buildings and can also applies to deep excavations.
The Party Wall Act 1996 entered 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 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 affect any requirement for Preparation Consent for any work undertaken. Similarly, having Planning Permission does not negate the requirements under the Party Wall Act.
The Party Wall Act enters result if someone is preparing to do work on a relevant structure, for the functions of the Act ‘party wall’ does not simply indicate the wall in between two semi-detached properties, as far as gardeners are worried it covers:
- A garden wall, where the wall is astride the limit line (or butts up against it) and is used to separate the homes but is not part of any building.
- Excavation close to a neighbouring property.
For information of how the Party Wall Act impacts structure operate in basic, have a look at this page.
Similar to all work impacting neighbours, it is always better to reach a friendly contract instead of resort to any law. Even where the work requires a notice to be served, it is better to informally talk about the designated work, think about the neighbours comments, and modify your strategies (if proper) before serving the notice.
What garden work needs a notification and approval.
The basic principle of the Party Wall Act is that all work which might have an impact upon the structural strength or support function of the party wall or might cause damage to the neighbouring side of the wall should be alerted. Advice needs to be sought from a regional Building Control Office or professional surveyor/architect if in doubt.
Operate in the garden covered by the Party Wall Act consist of:
- To rebuild/build a party and/or destroy border wall.
- To increase the height or density of a party limit wall.
- Excavations within 3 metres of a neighbouring building where the excavation will go listed below the bottom of the structures of the neighbouring building.
- Excavations within 6 metres of a neighbouring structure where the excavation will go below a line drawn 45 ° downwards from the bottom of the structures of the neighbouring structure.
Boundary walls
A notification needs to be issued to all affected neighbouring celebrations if the prepared work on a boundary wall falls under the Party Wall Act. The notification needs to 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 residential or commercial property.
- A complete description of the proposed work (this will normally be just 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 notification is being served.
- If the work includes excavations, a drawing revealing the depth, position and so on
If the planned work is a brand-new border wall approximately or astride the border line the procedure of serving a notice under the Party Wall Act is as follows:.
- The person planning to carry out the work should serve a composed notice a minimum of one months before the desired start of the work to every neighbouring party giving details of the work to be carried out.
- Each neighbouring party ought to respond in composing giving approval or signing up dissent – if a neighbouring party does nothing within 14 days of getting the notice, the effect is to put the notice into conflict. However no formal contract is required for a wall as much as the limit line, the neighbour simply requires not to object in composing.
- No work might begin on a wall astride the boundary line up until all neighbouring celebrations have actually concurred in writing to the notification (or a modified notification).
See below regarding what happens 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 a minimum of one month prior to the planned start day of the work. Neighbouring parties must provide written arrangement within 2 week or a disagreement is considered to have occurred.
See below regarding what happens in case of a dispute/objection.
What occurs if a conflict occurs.
If agreement can not be reached between neighbouring celebrations, the procedure is as follows:.
- A Property surveyor or Surveyors is/are designated to identify a objective and reasonable Award, either:.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody appropriate to all parties).
or. - Each party selects their own Property surveyor to represent the private parties.
The person who is carrying out the work will typically have to pay all the costs of the Surveyors, the only exception being if the neighbour calls out a Property surveyor unnecessarily – in the viewpoint of the Surveyor. It needs to be kept in mind that any Property surveyor should act within their statutory responsibilities and propose a fair and impartial Award.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody appropriate to all parties).
- The Agreed Property surveyor, or the private Surveyors jointly, will produce an Award which must be impartial and fair to all parties.
- As soon as an Award has been made, all celebrations have 14 days to attract a County Court against the Award.
When you have contract.
Once you have agreement, all work should abide by the notification. All the contracts should be maintained to ensure that a record of the granted permission is kept; a subsequent purchaser of the home may want to develop that the work was carried out in accordance with the Party Wall Act requirements.
Remember:
- We have actually only given a brief summary of the Party Wall Act here as it affects garden work however have a look at the Communities and Local Government website for a more comprehensive explanatory booklet including example letters for reactions and notifications.
- Talking about intended work with neighbours is complimentary and can avoid misunderstanding which might develop if a notice gets here unexpectedly.
- Your regional Building Control Workplace might have the ability to provide totally free suggestions concerning the Party Wall Act and how it applies to specific situations.
Related Articles
Around the Web