In today’s property surveying blog post, we thought we’d look at the typical Party Wall Surveying questions we find ourselves asked by adjoining owners on a daily basis!
How quickly do I need to respond to the Party Wall Notice?
Once the Party Wall Notice has been served upon you. As an adjoining owner, you will have 14 calendar days to respond. It is worth noting that from the date the notice is served, an additional two calendar days will be applied to allow for postage.
If, for any reason, you are unable to respond to the Party Wall Notice within that timeframe of 16 calendar days. The building owner would then serve another Party Wall Notice on you, giving you a final 10 days, plus the all important 2 postage days, for which you need to respond to that second and follow on Party Wall Notice.
At that time, if you still haven’t responded to the Party Wall Notices, the building owner would be in the legal position to appoint a party wall surveyor on your behalf.
What happens if my neighbour does not serve a Party Wall Notice on me?
If the building owner does not serve a Party Wall Notice upon the adjoining owner the adjoining owner has a couple of different options.
First, they can privately instruct a party wall surveyor to complete a Schedule of Condition report of their property.
However, this would ultimately need to be done prior to the works commencing, or failing that, very early on in the building owner’s construction works.
Alternatively, the adjoining owner can obtain a party wall injunction from the courts.
The party wall injunction will formally stop the building owner’s works until they have gone through the necessary party wall surveying procedures including the service of a Party Wall Notice.
Can I select any Party Wall Surveyor?
Yes. As an adjoining owner, you have the legal right to select any party wall surveyor of your choosing.
That selection is wholly yours to make and should not be a result of any pressure or bias from the building owner, or building owner’s party wall surveyor.
It is worth noting that the phrase and title “party wall surveyor” isn’t protected.
This means that anyone can use it. For that reason, there are party wall surveyors in the market who are not qualified, or hold any formal experience.
We would therefore, advise that a party wall surveyor is carefully considered and selected to ensure that you are getting a well placed professional to assist with your party wall surveying matter.
Will the Party Wall Surveyor want to visit my property before the works start?
Yes. As part of the party wall surveying procedures, the building owner’s party wall surveyor will want to inspect your property in advance of the building owner’s proposed and planned construction works commencing.
The purpose of this visit will be to complete a Schedule of Condition report of your property.
The Schedule of Condition report being a robust and thorough pre-works survey, setting out the existing condition.
The Schedule of Condition will see a party wall surveyor record your property’s condition in both photographic and written format, this acting as a document of proof in the event of any allegation of damage or genuine damage during the course of the works, or post-works.
The Schedule of Condition will generally take anywhere from 1-4 hours, and will focus on all of those areas which are in close proximity to the building owner’s planned construction work.
Do I need to pay for my Party Wall surveyor’s Costs?
No. Under the Party Wall etc Act 1996, the building owner is legally liable for your party wall surveyor’s reasonable fee.
Through the eyes of the Act, it would be unreasonable for the adjoining owner to have to cover costs for a party wall surveyor for works that do not benefit them, and are the result of the building owner’s planned construction.
In layman’s terms, this means you have the right to appoint a party wall surveyor on your behalf, with the building owner having to bear the reasonable cost for that party wall surveyor’s time.
The party wall surveyor’s fees will be sent to the building owner upon completion of the party wall surveyor’s role. Therefore, you will never find yourself as an intermediary in respect of those fees and costs.
What happens if Party Wall Damage occurs?
In the unfortunate event that an adjoining owner alleges party wall damage, the first point of action will be for the party wall surveyor to establish if that damage is related and linked to the building owner’s party wall works.
If a Schedule of Condition report has been completed, the party wall surveyor will usually start this procedure by checking that Schedule of Condition report to ascertain if the area of suggested damage is noted within that or not.
If indeed, it hasn’t been noted, and the party wall surveyor believes there is a strong link between the party wall works and the damage reported, at that stage, the adjoining owner will have two available options for remedy at their disposal.
The first option is that the adjoining owner can allow the building owner’s contractor to make good.
The second option being that the adjoining owner can request a payment in lieu which is a cash payment given to them by the building owner, whereby they can then instruct their own contractor to make good.
The option the adjoining owner selects is wholly of their choosing and is to be free from any pressure from the building owner or party wall surveyor.
Do the Party Wall Surveying procedures allow Access?
Yes, providing that the planned construction works fall within the realm of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996 and specifically those parts of it which give a building owner and their workmen the legal right of access, the Act does indeed allow for access onto an adjoining owner’s land and airspace.
It is important to note that if an adjoining owner disputes the building owner’s suggestion of access, it will need to be dealt with via a Party Wall Award.
That Party Wall Award ultimately having within it protective provisions, to safeguard the adjoining owner and regularise the access in such a way that it is not only limited in time, but subject to onsite installations to ensure damage does not occur as a result of it.
Party wall access is often a large area of concern for adjoining owners. If indeed you find yourself concerned by a building owner’s party wall access, we would advise speaking with a party wall surveyor, to discuss this further.
Are Party Wall Surveyors Qualified?
From a legal perspective, a party wall surveyor doesn’t need to hold any form of formal qualification or experience for that matter.
It is one of the little known peculiarities of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996 and generally speaking, results in a far and wide range of party wall surveyors in the market.
Our advice is to ensure that when you are selecting your party wall surveyor, they are at the very minimum, a member of a professional governing body such as the RICS, or CIOB.
Furthermore, we would also ensure that they have the necessary experience and understanding of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996 as it is a particularly specialist area of building surveying.
Finally, it is also sensible to ensure that they have a full understanding of the type of construction work that is taking place, and they have the necessary experience to best handle the matter at hand.
Can my Neighbour Build on my Land?
Through the eyes of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, the building owner does have the legal right to build upon an adjoining owner’s land, commonly this would be in the form of building a new flank wall astride the boundary line.
Astride meaning half on the adjoining owner’s land, half on the building owner’s land.
It is worth bearing in mind that a building owner is only afforded this right upon the agreement of the adjoining owner.
Therefore, if the adjoining owner was not happy with the proposal to build a new flank wall astride the boundary line, then the building owner will need to step the wall back to ensure that it is wholly on their line and up to the boundary line.
Can I act as my own Party Wall Surveyor?
No, from a legal perspective the building owner and adjoining owner are unable to act as party wall surveyors to a dispute that they are a party to.
In layman’s terms this means that they will need to appoint a party wall surveyor who is impartial and free from any conflict of interest in order to represent them.
Can I Stop my Neighbour’s works?
No. Under the Party Wall etc Act 1996, the building owner has the legal right to progress their planned construction works.
It is worth noting that that the Act itself is facilitating in nature.
This means is that once the Party Wall Notice is served, a protocol and procedure is set into play, whereby ultimately, even if you as an adjoining owner weren’t to respond to Party Wall Notices served upon you, the building owner would eventually be given the legal right to progress the works via a Party Wall Award.
If indeed, you are unhappy with the building owner’s proposed works, we would advise discussing these directly with the building owner, or alternatively, raising these with your Local Authorities Planning department, as they may be able to take these into account in any planning approval considerations.
How much does a Party Wall Surveyor Cost?
Party wall surveying fees will vary and would very much be dependent upon the type of works that are taking place, the properties they are taking place to and the number of different adjoining owners to whom they are applicable to.
Generally speaking party wall surveying fees will start at circa £50 for Party Wall Notices, circa £300 for Schedule of Condition reports and circa £700 for Party Wall Awards.
We would advise discussing party wall surveying fees with a party wall surveyor, hopefully our party wall surveyors, to gain a full understanding of the likely costs in that regard.
What does a Party Wall Surveyor do?
The party wall surveyor is in place to administer the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
They will be appointed to look at the building owner’s planned construction works from the perspective of the adjoining owner’s property.
The ultimate outcome being to ensure that the risk associated with those works is as low as it could possibly be.
They will achieve this through undertaking a pre-works Schedule of Condition report of the adjoining owner’s property and ultimately agreeing a Party Wall Award.
The Party Wall Award will not only govern and safeguard the adjoining owner during and post construction work, it will also set out procedures and protocols that the building owner’s contractor needs to adhere to during the course of the works.
What is a Party Wall Award?
The Party Wall Award is the conclusive document and agreement to the party wall surveying procedures.
The Party Wall Award can only be drafted by a party wall surveyor or party wall surveyors.
Once it is served it will give the building owner the legal right to progress their planned construction works while also giving the adjoining owner the full protections that the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 affords them.
Is it a legal requirement to have a Party Wall Award?
Yes. If the building owner has served a Party Wall Notice upon the adjoining owner and the adjoining owner has dissented to that Party Wall Notice, a Party Wall Award will have to be agreed and will be a legal requirement.
The Party Wall Award will set out the building owner’s legal right to progress and undertake their planned construction works.
However, importantly it will also give the adjoining owner the full protection of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, while also putting in place procedures and protocols that will safeguard their property both during and post construction work.
Does the Party Wall Award protect me?
Yes. A Party Wall Award will protect both a building owner and adjoining owner.
It protects a building owner by governing their planned works, and ultimately putting in place procedures and protocols to minimise the risk of damage to the adjoining owner’s property.
It protects an adjoining owner by giving them a cost and time effective protocol to go through in the event of any issue or damage on site resulting from the building owner’s planned construction works.
Unlike common law an adjoining owner will also not have to incur cost in proving damage caused by the building owner’s construction work which in our opinion is one of the main reasons that adjoining owners opt for Party Wall Notice dissents followed by the agreement of a Party Wall Award.
I’m not happy with the Party Wall Award?
This is a relatively rare outcome however if indeed a building owner or adjoining owner isn’t happy with the content of the Party Wall Award they do have the legal right to appeal that Party Wall Award.
It is important to note that appealing a Party Wall Award can only be on grounds of invalidity or incorrect information.
Nonetheless, adjoining owners can go to the courts, present their case and ultimately have the Party Wall Award set aside as invalid if indeed successful.
Can a Party Wall Award be agreed retrospectively?
Generally speaking, no as the Party Wall Award will hinge on a Party Wall Notice having been served prior to the building owner’s works commencing.
However, if indeed the building owner had served a Party Wall Notice upon the adjoining owner.
With the adjoining owner having consented to that Notice, and then further down the line an issue arising.
At that stage the adjoining owner can opt to convert their Party Wall Notice consent to a Party Wall Notice dissent.
At this stage a Party Wall Award can be agreed to regularise and resolve the dispute that has arisen between the respective owners.
It is worth noting, this is a relatively tricky question to answer, as there are a number of different scenarios that will need to be assessed before it can truly be answered accurately.
If you would like to discuss these questions, or any others, please feel to give us a shout today! We’d be more than happy to answer those and advise.
