Welcome to another Party Wall Surveying Blog Post. In today’s post, we will be looking at whether you are able to refuse access on your property to a neighbour who wishes to carry out building works that falls under the Party Wall etc Act 1996.
We hope that this blog post can assist you in developing your understanding of the Act and the procedures it sets out.
As per the requirements and stipulations of the Act, the legal owner who is undertaking construction works to their property – known as the building owner – is required to serve a Party Wall Notice to the legal owner who neighbours the construction works – also known as the adjoining owner.
The aim and intent of the Party Wall Notice is to set out the nature of the proposed works and the date in which the building owner wishes to start the works. In a nutshell, the Notice should help inform the adjoining owner of how the works will affect them through the eyes of the Act.
Access under the Act isn’t an automatic right, it actually only applies to certain types of Party Wall Works. If a building owner intends to build a new wall up to, or astride the line of junction, or carry out works directly to the Party Wall then they are likely to be entitled to Party Wall access. This would mean that they gain the legal right of access onto the adjoining owner’s land in order to safely undertake their works.
Under section 8 of the Act, it is stated that the:
‘building owner, his servants, agents and workmen may during usual working hours enter and remain on any land or premises for the purpose of executing any work in pursuance of this Act and may remove any furniture or fittings or take any other action necessary for that purpose’.
It is important to note that the rights of access will only be for a limited period of time and there will be strict rules and requirements that apply to the building owner’s contractors while their undertaking their access.
Forming part of the Party Wall Award, the access would have been agreed by the Agreed Surveyor or by both the adjoining owner and building owners Party Wall Surveyor’s.
The Party Wall Award would have set out what areas the building owner will have access to and the times in which they are entitled to gain access.
The Party Wall Surveyor(s) will always aim to ensure that the building owner’s works has the least amount of risk and nuisance to the adjoining owners. Afterall, it is their property.
As the adjoining owner, once you are served the Party Wall Award you have a period of 14 days to dispute it. If the access is of concern, then at this point you should make it known that you are unhappy with the natures of the access rights.
However, once the Party Wall award has been served to the adjoining owner and the period of 14 days has passed, the building owner is legally entitled to access the adjoining owner’s land.
Under the access clause, the building owner will in all normal circumstances install temporary protection measures to the adjoining owner’s property to ensure that the risk of damage in kept to a minimum. This could include dust sheets, temporary fencing and measures to reduce noise.
It is very unlikely that the adjoining owner will refuse access once the building owner’s works starts as they should be fully aware of the access agreements in place within the Party Wall Award. However, if the adjoining owner does decide to refuse access even though there is a Party Wall Award in place then they are in breach of the Act and the Party Wall Award, and it is considered to be an offence.
Under section 16 of the Act, it is stated that an adjoining owner guilty of an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. To put that into perspective, the maximum fine for level 3 on the standard scale is £1000, not to mention there will also be hefty legal, professional and court costs.
Once the adjoining owner has refused access, under section 8 of the Act:
‘the building owner, his agents and workmen may, if accompanied by a constable or other police officer, break open any fences or doors in order to enter the premises’
This would then allow the building owner’s construction works to progress and not stall, be delayed or temporarily stopped, which is effectively the very purpose of the Act given it’s facilitating nature.
If you are a building owner and you believe you will require access onto the adjoining owner’s land in order to carry out your construction works. Here at Stokemont, we would recommend that you get in touch with an experienced Party Wall Surveyor at the earliest point possible to best advise on how to go about the intended access.
Likewise, if you are an adjoining owner and your neighbour plans to use your land to carry out their construction works, we would advise that you contact an experienced Party Wall Surveyor to ensure that your interests are considered and protected.
Here at Stokemont, we would be happy to assist you with any Party Wall Surveying procedures and it is an area in which we specialise in.
Please call us today if you would like to discuss Party Wall access in more detail. If you would like to speak with one of our experienced and qualified Party Wall Surveyors, you can either give us a call or email here.
