Hello and welcome to today’s installment of our properly surveying blog post where we are going to be discussing Party Wall Surveying matters. Within today’s blog post I am going to be taking a look at whether you should dispute a Party Wall Notice.
What is a Party Wall Notice?
Firstly I am going to be looking at what a Party Wall Notice is before looking at whether it should be disputed or not.
A party will notice is a letter that must be served to your neighbours if any of your planned works fall under the Party Wall etc Act 1996.
Its intended purpose is to outline what works are taking place and the sections of the Act that they will fall under. Alongside this will also include contact details of the building owner or their surveyor and are usually accompanied by drawings (which is mandatory under section 6).
When it comes to responding to a Party Wall Notice there are three distinct options that one is capable of choosing to respond with.
Party Wall Notice Consent
The first is to consent to the Party Wall Notice, which will essentially forgo the Party Wall process as you would be stating that you consent to the planned works and so if a dispute was to arise this would have to be handled by you and the building owner in a neighbourly manner or by way of common law.
Party Wall Notice Dissent
The next two response options would be to dissent to the Party Wall Notice, which would be the same as disputing the Notice.
The second response option is to dissent and have an agreed Party Wall Surveyor between you and the building owner. So there would be one surveyor who would oversee the Party Wall procedure on behalf of all parties involved and will act impartially to do what is within their power to uphold and carry out what is outlined in The Party Wall etc Act 1996.
The third and final response option is to dissent to the Party Wall Notice and appoint your own Party Wall Surveyor, so there would be one Surveyor for yourself and one Surveyor who would act on behalf of your neighbour, each would work together in order to best uphold the Party Wall etc Act 1996 and to ensure that the Party Wall procedure is followed accordingly.
Dissenting to a party will notice is often the preferred response option for most people as by dissenting to a Party Wall Notice will ensure that you have the full protections of The Party Wall etc Act 1996 which will become finalised by way of the Part Wall Award.
What is a Party Wall Award?
The Party Wall Award is the final aspect of the Party Wall Surveying procedure and is a legally binding document that will outline the works that the building owner is entitled to under The Party Wall etc Act 1996 and will also outline the protections that are to be put in place for the adjoining owner’s property.
This can include a number of things from ensuring any open vents are covered in case of a chimney breast removal or the use of hit-and-miss bays in cases where excavations are taking place in relatively close proximity to the adjoining owner’s property to minimize the chances of movement.
The Party Wall Award will also stipulate that in case of any damage is caused by the planned works then this has to be made right by the building owner.
Whereas if you are to consent to the Party Wall Notice then none of the protections that I have mentioned above will not be put in place and there would be no Party Wall Award, so there would nothing that would outright stipulate that the building owner would have to put right any damage that is caused by their planned works.
I hope this gives you further insight into Party Wall Surveying matters and into whether or not you should dissent to a Party Wall Notice. If you have any further questions regarding Party Wall Surveying matters or about any of the other Services that we offer here at Stokemont then please do not hesitate to get in touch today, either by giving us a call or alternatively popping us over an email and one of our team of experienced Party Wall Surveyors will be happy to assist and advise you.
