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Party Wall (WikiPedia)
The Party Wall Act 1996
as it impacts the garden
At first sight, it is easy to think that the 1996 Party Wall Act does not impact garden building and construction, nevertheless it does impact the building of boundary walls even if not part of buildings and can likewise applies to deep excavations.
The Party Wall Act 1996 entered force in 1997, so it is now law and gives you rights and obligations whichever the side of the ‘wall’ you are on i.e. whether you are planning/doing work on a pertinent 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 Preparation Authorization for any work undertaken. Similarly, having Planning Permission does not negate the requirements under the Party Wall Act.
The Party Wall Act enters into 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 between two semi-detached residential or commercial 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 utilized to separate the homes however is not part of any building.
- Excavation near to a neighbouring residential or commercial property.
For details of how the Party Wall Act affects building work in basic, take a look at this page.
Just like all work impacting neighbours, it is constantly better to reach a friendly agreement instead of turn to any law. Even where the work needs a notice to be served, it is much better to informally go over the intended work, consider the neighbours comments, and modify your plans (if appropriate) prior to serving the notification.
What garden work requires a notice and permission.
The general 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 might trigger damage to the neighbouring side of the wall must be informed. If in doubt, advice ought to be looked for from a regional Building Control Office or expert surveyor/architect.
Operate in the garden covered by the Party Wall Act consist of:
- To rebuild/build a party and/or destroy boundary wall.
- To increase the height or thickness of a party border wall.
- Excavations within 3 metres of a neighbouring building where the excavation will go listed below the bottom of the foundations 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 building.
Boundary walls
A notice must be issued to all impacted neighbouring parties if the prepared work on a boundary wall falls under the Party Wall Act. 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 residential or commercial property.
- A complete description of the proposed work (this will normally be simply 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 revealing the depth, position and so on
If the prepared work is a brand-new boundary wall approximately or astride the limit line the procedure of serving a notification under the Party Wall Act is as follows:.
- The individual meaning to perform the work needs to serve a written notification a minimum of one months before the desired start of the work to every neighbouring party giving details of the work to be performed.
- Each neighbouring party should react in composing offering approval or signing up dissent – if a neighbouring party not does anything within 2 week of receiving the notification, the impact is to put the notification into conflict. No official contract is needed for a wall up to the boundary line, the neighbour simply needs not to object in writing.
- No work may commence on a wall astride the boundary line until all neighbouring celebrations have actually concurred in writing to the notice (or a revised notification).
See below regarding what takes place in case of a dispute/objection.
Excavations.
If the prepared 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 should give written arrangement within 14 days or a dispute is deemed to have actually happened.
See listed below regarding what happens in the event of a dispute/objection.
What happens if a dispute emerges.
If agreement can not be reached between neighbouring parties, the procedure is as follows:.
- A Property surveyor or Surveyors is/are appointed to determine a reasonable and unbiased Award, either:.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody acceptable to all parties).
or. - Each party designates their own Property surveyor to represent the specific parties.
The individual who is carrying out the work will normally need to pay all the expenses of the Surveyors, the only exception being if the neighbour calls out a Property surveyor needlessly – in the opinion of the Property surveyor. However it needs to be kept in mind that any Surveyor should act within their statutory obligations and propose a reasonable and unbiased Award.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (somebody acceptable to all parties).
- The Agreed Property surveyor, or the private Surveyors collectively, will produce an Award which must be unbiased and fair to all parties.
- When an Award has been made, all parties have 2 week to interest a County Court versus the Award.
As soon as you have arrangement.
Once you have contract, all work must abide by the notification. All the agreements ought to be retained to make sure that a record of the granted permission is kept; a subsequent buyer of the property may wish to establish that the work was performed in accordance with the Party Wall Act requirements.
Keep in mind:
- We have actually only provided a quick summary of the Party Wall Act here as it impacts garden work however take a look at the Neighborhoods and City government site for a more thorough explanatory booklet consisting of example letters for notices and reactions.
- Discussing designated work with neighbours is totally free and can prevent misconception which may develop if a notice gets here suddenly.
- Your local Structure Control Office might be able to offer free recommendations concerning the Party Wall Act and how it applies to particular scenarios.
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