Party walls and structure work – Faulkners Surveyors.

Faulkners Surveyors As certified and experienced Party Wall Surveyors we specialise in all Party Wall matters.
We cover every aspect required to encourage upon and deal with Party Wall concerns, such as:

• Preparing and serving legitimate Party Wall Notices
• Acting as the Structure Owners Party Wall Surveyor
• Acting as the Adjoining Owners Party Wall Surveyor
• Acting as the Agreed Party Wall Property Surveyor
• Undertaking 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 regulations set down by the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors.

The Party Wall Act and so on 1996 is law, failure to adhere to 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 simple to think that the 1996 Party Wall Act does not impact garden building and construction, nevertheless it does affect the building and construction of border walls even if not part of buildings and can likewise 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 deal with a pertinent 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 Planning Consent for any work carried out. Having Preparation Permission does not negate the requirements under the Party Wall Act.

The Party Wall Act comes into effect if someone is preparing to do work on a pertinent structure, for the functions of the Act ‘party wall’ does not just suggest the wall in between two semi-detached residential or commercial properties, as far as garden enthusiasts are concerned 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 however is not part of any structure.
• Excavation close to a neighbouring residential or commercial property.

For information of how the Party Wall Act affects building work in general, take a look at this page.

Just like all work impacting neighbours, it is constantly much better to reach a friendly agreement instead of resort to any law. Even where the work requires a notice to be served, it is much better to informally discuss the desired work, consider the neighbours comments, and amend your strategies (if proper) prior to serving the notification.

What garden work needs a notice and consent.

The basic principle of the Party Wall Act is that all work which may have a result upon the structural strength or support function of the party wall or may trigger damage to the neighbouring side of the wall need to be notified. If in doubt, guidance should be looked for from a local Building Control Workplace or expert surveyor/architect.

Work in the garden covered by the Party Wall Act consist of:

• To rebuild/build a party and/or demolish boundary wall.
• To increase the height or density of a party border wall.
• Excavations within 3 metres of a neighbouring structure where the excavation will go listed below the bottom of the foundations of the neighbouring structure.
• Excavations within 6 metres of a neighbouring building where the excavation will go below a line drawn 45 ° downwards from the bottom of the structures of the neighbouring building.

Boundary walls

If the planned work on a limit wall falls under the Party Wall Act, a notice must be provided to all affected neighbouring celebrations. The notice needs to include (see sample letters in Part 5 of the Party Wall brochure):.

• The owners of the home undertaking the work.
• The address of the property.
• A full description of the proposed work (this will typically be simply a single sentence describing 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 notification is being served.
• If the work involves excavations, a drawing showing the depth, position etc

If the prepared work is a brand-new boundary wall up to or astride the limit line the procedure of serving a notification under the Party Wall Act is as follows:.

• The individual intending to perform the work needs to serve a composed notification a minimum of one months before the intended start of the work to every neighbouring party offering details of the work to be carried out.
• Each neighbouring party ought to respond in composing providing consent or signing up dissent – if a neighbouring party does nothing within 14 days of receiving the notification, the effect is to put the notice into disagreement. However no official arrangement is needed for a wall approximately the border line, the neighbour simply needs not to object in writing.
• No work might begin on a wall astride the border line until all neighbouring parties have actually agreed in writing to the notification (or a revised notification).

See listed below concerning what takes place 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 notice needs to be served a minimum of one month prior to the prepared start day of the work. Neighbouring parties must offer written agreement within 2 week or a conflict is considered to have actually taken place.

See listed below concerning what happens in the event of a dispute/objection.

If a conflict occurs, what occurs.

If agreement can not be reached between neighbouring parties, the procedure is as follows:.

• A Surveyor or Surveyors is/are appointed to figure out a impartial and fair Award, either:.
  • A single ‘Concurred Property surveyor’ (someone appropriate to all parties).
    or.
  • Each party designates their own Property surveyor to represent the individual celebrations.
    The person who is performing the work will normally 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 Property surveyor. It should be kept in mind that any Surveyor needs to act within their statutory responsibilities and propose a reasonable and objective Award.
• The Agreed Surveyor, or the private Surveyors collectively, will produce an Award which should be impartial and reasonable to all parties.
• As soon as an Award has been made, all celebrations have 2 week to attract a County Court against the Award.

When you have contract.

All work should comply with the notification when you have contract. All the agreements ought to be kept to guarantee that a record of the granted permission is kept; a subsequent purchaser of the home may wish to establish that the work was performed in accordance with the Party Wall Act requirements.

Keep in mind:

• We have actually just offered a short summary of the Party Wall Act here as it affects garden work but have a look at the Neighborhoods and City government site for a more extensive explanatory brochure including example letters for responses and notifications.
• Discussing desired work with neighbours is free and can avoid misconception which might arise if a notification arrives suddenly.
• Your local Building Control Office may be able to offer free suggestions regarding the Party Wall Act and how it applies to specific scenarios.

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