Thank you for clicking on today’s Property Surveying blog post. In today’s informative instalment of our weekly surveying topics, we are going to be looking at party wall surveying procedures.
One of the most typical misconceptions that we see here at Stokemont on a daily basis, is that only a party wall surveyor can serve a Party Wall Notice.
This is incorrect, in reality, a Party Wall Notice can be served by anyone on behalf of the neighbouring owner. The neighbouring owner is also referred to as the adjoining owner under the wording and referrals of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
The intent and aim of the Party Wall Notice is to notify the adjoining owner of the planned works, importantly giving them their legal right of response and the all important three party wall response options that are open to them.
These Party Wall Notice responses in short are as follows.
Party Wall Notice Responses
Consenting to the Party Wall Notice
The first Party Wall Notice response that the adjoining owner has is to consent to the Party Wall Notice.
Consenting to the Party Wall Notice effectively means that the adjoining owner will be giving the building owner the right to progress their planned works, without any further party wall surveying procedure being implemented or followed.
For a building owner this is the most favourable outcome, it ultimately means that they don’t need to go through any further formality set out by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
If you were to compare this to a traffic light, this would very much be a green light.
Dissenting to the Party Wall Notice and appointing an agreed surveyor
Selecting this option, will give the adjoining owner the protections and benefits that the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 affords them.
These protections will often include surveyor review, site visits. However, will ultimately culminate and conclude in the agreement of a Party Wall Award. A Party Wall Award is also commonly referred to as a Party Wall Agreement.
Once the Party Wall Agreement is in place, the adjoining owner has definitive and additional protection above and beyond common or civil law.
Importantly for many adjoining owners, and in our opinion here at Stokemont the key reason the majority of adjoining owners dissent, the Party Wall Award gives an adjoining owner protection against cost. Thereby meaning if that there is any damage or issue that arises on site, they can simply go back to the agreed party wall surveyor who prepared and agreed the Party Wall Award, who will be duty bound to deal with the matter at hand.
If you were to compare this to a traffic light, this would be an amber or orange light.
Dissenting to the Party Wall Notice and Appointing Their Own Party Wall Surveyor
The final option that an adjoining owner has at their disposal is to dissent to the Party Wall Notice and appoint their own party wall surveyor.
Selecting this option will mean that the building owner also needs to appoint their own party wall surveyor.
There will therefore be two respective party wall surveyors on board, one acting on behalf of the building owner, one acting on behalf of adjoining owner.
The party wall surveyors will go through all of the same procedures that the agreed party wall surveyor would have.
The only difference being that there are two surveyors as opposed to one.
Under the requirements of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, the building owner is responsible for the party wall surveyor’s fees in all respects.
This includes the party wall surveyor acting as an agreed party wall surveyor, or alternatively acting wholly on behalf of one of the respective owners.
If you were to compare this to a traffic light, this would very much be a red light.
However, it is worth noting that a red light in this scenario does not necessarily mean stop, it is simply the least favourable response that a building owner can receive.
Party Wall Notice Validity
Party Wall Notices are relatively simple in content, however a key and pivotal element of them is that they must be considered legally valid. In layman’s terms, this effectively means that the Party Wall Notice must be properly prepared, completed and served. Often needing to be accompanied by specific plans, drawings and information to validate the document.
As confirmed by the title of this blog post, Party Wall Notices don’t necessarily always have to bear a cost.
Free Party Wall Notices
Here at Stokemont, we have a free Party Wall Notice generator or creator. You can gain the benefit of its use and if you follow it carefully, will ensure that you serve a proper and legally valid Party Wall Notice.
This will not only be a short term saving, it will also ensure that for the more straightforward or simple party wall surveying matters, the owners are given the opportunity to reduce or minimise the input of party wall surveyors.
Definitely at the starting stage of the party wall surveying procedures and at notice service time, if indeed there is a good history of relations between the respective owners, building owner and adjoining owner. Neighbourly Party Wall Notice service of this manner can go a long way to minimise the need for party wall surveyor input.
To Use or Not to Use?
Here at Stokemont, we would advise that our free Party Wall Notice generator is used when relations are favourable.
If indeed the adjoining owner is nervous or has vocalised concern about the work, it may be more sensible and placed for the Party Wall Notice to be served by a party wall surveyor.
While building owners will look at this as a short term cost, that they can potentially avoid, it is important to note that the Party Wall Notice starts the party wall procedures.
As previously discussed, it has to be legally valid. Party Wall Notices that are served by party wall surveyors are obviously going to carry the requirement that they must be valid.
Equally, they are also going to give the adjoining owner a point of contact or person to contact if indeed there is any confusion about the party wall procedures or party wall element of the construction works.
This point of contact can often mean that simple concerns that are raised by an adjoining owner can be easily ironed out by an experienced and neutral party wall surveyor.
If indeed you would like to gain the benefit of our free Party Wall Notice creator, take a look at the dedicated web page we have on our website. We designed the Party Wall Notice creator to be as simple and straightforward as possible.
We hope you have enjoyed the content of this blog post, and hopefully that the free Party Wall Notice creator that we have prepared and provided is of benefit to you.
If you would like to discuss party wall surveying procedures with our team of experienced and qualified party wall surveyors, or perhaps you would like to use our free Party Wall Notice creator, all you need to do is get in touch with us today, or click on the link above, and you can easily access this.
