We are fully certified professional Party Wall Surveyors with years of experience producing Schedule of Condition reports and lawfully serving Party Wall Agreements and Notices.
With offices in Central, South and North London it makes us completely put to serve Greater London and the surrounding counties.
Whether you’re a Structure Owner planning a brand-new task or a neighbour who has actually been served a Party Wall Notice our understanding and experience guarantees we are always best prepared to help with your Party Wall requirements.
Call now and talk with a Specialist Surveyor for friendly professional recommendations.
Party Wall (WikiPedia)
A party wall (occasionally parti-wall or parting wall, also recognized as common wall or as a demising wall) is a dividing partition between 2 adjacent structures that is shared by the occupants of each home or company. Typically, the home builder lays the wall surface along a residential property line dividing 2 terraced homes, so that one half of the wall’s thickness pushes each side. This type of wall is normally structural. Party wall surfaces can likewise be developed by two abutting walls constructed at different times. The term can be also made use of to define a division between different devices within a multi-unit home facility. Really usually the wall in this case is non-structural however made to fulfill well-known requirements for audio and/or fire protection, i.e. a firewall program.
The Party Wall Act 1996
as it effects the garden
At first sight, it is easy to think that the 1996 Party Wall Act does not affect garden building, nevertheless it does impact the building and construction of boundary 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 gives you rights and obligations whichever the side of the ‘wall’ you are on i.e. whether you are planning/doing work on an appropriate 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. Having Planning Permission does not negate the requirements under the Party Wall Act.
The Party Wall Act enters into impact if somebody is planning to do deal with an appropriate structure, for the purposes of the Act ‘party wall’ does not just imply the wall in between 2 semi-detached homes, 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 however is not part of any building.
- Excavation close to a neighbouring residential or commercial property.
For information of how the Party Wall Act affects building work in basic, have a look at this page.
As with all work impacting neighbours, it is constantly much better to reach a friendly agreement rather than resort to any law. Even where the work requires a notification to be served, it is much better to informally talk about the designated work, think about the neighbours comments, and amend your plans (if appropriate) prior to serving the notice.
What garden work needs a notification and authorization.
The basic concept 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 may cause damage to the neighbouring side of the wall must be notified. If in doubt, suggestions needs to be looked for from a local Building Control Workplace or professional surveyor/architect.
Work in the garden covered by the Party Wall Act include:
- To rebuild/build a party and/or demolish boundary 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 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
A notice must be provided to all affected neighbouring parties if the prepared work on a limit wall falls under the Party Wall Act. The notice must consist of (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 full description of the proposed work (this will typically be simply a single sentence laying out the work).
- The proposed start date for the work.
- A clear statement 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 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 notification under the Party Wall Act is as follows:.
- The person planning to carry out the work must serve a composed notification a minimum of one months prior to the intended start of the work to every neighbouring party providing details of the work to be performed.
- Each neighbouring party ought to react in writing giving consent or registering dissent – if a neighbouring party not does anything within 2 week of getting the notification, the impact is to put the notice into dispute. No official contract is needed for a wall up to the boundary line, the neighbour just requires not to object in composing.
- No work might begin on a wall astride the boundary line till all neighbouring parties have agreed in writing to the notification (or a modified notice).
See 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 notification requires to be served a minimum of one month before the planned start day of the work. Neighbouring celebrations should offer written arrangement within 14 days or a disagreement is deemed to have actually occurred.
See below concerning what happens in the event of a dispute/objection.
What occurs if a dispute arises.
If contract can not be reached between neighbouring parties, the procedure is as follows:.
- A Property surveyor or Surveyors is/are appointed to determine a unbiased and fair Award, either:.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (someone appropriate to all celebrations).
or. - Each party selects their own Surveyor to represent the individual parties.
The individual who is carrying out the work will usually 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. It needs to be kept in mind that any Surveyor needs to act within their statutory responsibilities and propose a objective and reasonable Award.
- A single ‘Concurred Surveyor’ (someone appropriate to all celebrations).
- The Agreed Property surveyor, or the specific Surveyors jointly, will produce an Award which needs to be neutral and reasonable to all parties.
- When an Award has been made, all parties have 14 days to appeal to a County Court against the Award.
When you have contract.
All work needs to comply with the notice as soon as you have arrangement. All the contracts should be kept to guarantee that a record of the granted permission is kept; a subsequent buyer of the residential or commercial property might want to establish that the work was performed in accordance with the Party Wall Act requirements.
Keep in mind:
- We’ve just provided a brief overview of the Party Wall Act here as it affects garden work however have a look at the Neighborhoods and City government site for a more extensive explanatory booklet consisting of example letters for notifications and reactions.
- If a notice arrives unexpectedly, going over desired work with neighbours is free and can avoid misunderstanding which might arise.
- Your regional Building Control Office might have the ability to provide totally free suggestions concerning the Party Wall Act and how it applies to specific circumstances.
Related Articles
Around the Web