Party wall damage, or damage from the building owner’s construction works is an unfortunate event for any adjoining owner or building owner to be a party to.
Despite attempts being made at every juncture of the party wall procedures, it is a common event and therefore while the concern related to damage is always going to be high, the owners should rest assured that there are procedures in place that have been tried and tested to ensure that the issues are dealt with quickly, proactively and to the best interest of everyone.
The party wall surveyor’s role is to agree a party wall award that will thoroughly protect the adjoining owner against any issue such as damage, however also to ensure that the building owner is given the right to undertake his or her proposed construction works in a timely manner.
As with any construction work, there is always going to be unforeseen issues or errors on site, and in many cases this can lead to damage to the adjoining owner’s property.
First and foremost whenever party wall damage occurs we would always advise getting in touch with the party wall surveyor or surveyors at the earliest opportunity. You will want to ensure that you inform the surveyors of the damage in as much description as possible. You should also ask them for a confirmation as to when they will respond and get a brief understanding of what they will do onwards from your initial contact.
Here at Stokemont we would advise sending the party wall surveyor photographs of the issue or damage, while also confirming where the damage has occurred to and also the room or area to which it has occurred. This will go a long way in assisting the party wall surveyor in checking the original photographic or recorded schedule of condition report and ensuring that he or she is able to comprehensively determine if that damage is new, and if that damage is down to and as a result of the building owner’s party wall works.
Once you have informed the party wall surveyor of the damage you can then expect the party wall surveyor to either get in touch directly with the building owner, or to get in touch with the building owner’s surveyor depending on the type of party wall award that has been agreed. The party wall surveyor should also give you a good understanding of how long he is going to give the surveyor or owner to respond to the initial contact, overall we would expect it to be within a week, or a lot sooner if the damage is of a high risk or high or structural urgency.
Whenever party wall damage does occur, the adjoining owner will always have the right to have their own contractor make good. In our experience, here at Stokemont, we also find that this is a fairly typical response from an adjoining owner as usually they are quite against the contractor who caused the damage then making good.
If you already know that you would like your own contractor to make good the damage, at this stage we would recommend obtaining some quotes from local contractors to ensure that you have got these ready and to hand so that when the party wall surveyor does confirm that the damage is new and as a result of the building owner’s works you can then furnish him or her with these quotes which will give the surveyor a good understanding of the quantum of the damage so that he can advise his counterpart or the building owner accordingly.
Here at Stokemont we would recommend these quotes come from a trusted contractor, generally speaking we like to see quotes from contractors who are members of the Federation of Master Builders FMB as this ensures that the contractors are usually well respected or have made attempts to stand out from their competitors.
We would also recommend opening dialogue with the contractor or your neighbour as this will greatly assist in the overall process being dealt with smoothly, quickly and in the most cost-effective way possible.
If you would like to discuss party wall damage with one of our experience party wall surveyors get in touch with us now and we will be more than happy to assist you.
