Thank you for tuning into this week’s property surveying blog. The topic of today’s blog will be the removal of chimney breasts and why it’s necessary to have a party wall agreement in place.
What does the Party Wall etc Act say concerning Chimney Breast Removals?
Removing the chimney breast would require cutting into and away from the party wall structure.
When referencing the Party Wall Act, section 3 of the Act specifies the following:
Before exercising any right conferred on him by section 2 a building owner shall serve on any adjoining owner a notice (in this Act referred to as a “party structure notice”)
Therefore, as per above, those works would require a Building Owner intending to carry out any of these works to notify any applicable neighbouring properties by serving a Party Wall Notice.
Once an option has been selected from the three available to an adjoining owner which includes:
- Consenting to the works
- Dissenting, with the Agreement of an Agreed Surveyor
- Dissenting, with the appointment of an independent Surveyor
The next stage would be to arrange for access to the neighbouring properties for the Schedule of Condition Report to undertaking either by the surveyor or surveyors if two are included within the procedure.
Following this would be the agreement of the Party Wall Agreement.
Given the works are to be directed to the Party Wall, Notice would need to be served 2 months before the planned works.
Specifically referencing the action of the removal of the chimney breast, Section 2(2)(f)&(g) of the Act states as follows:
(f) to cut into a party structure for any purpose (which may be or include the purpose of inserting a damp proof course);
(g) to cut away from a party wall, party fence wall, external wall, or boundary wall any footing or any projecting chimney breast, jamb or flue, or other projection on or over the land of the building owner to erect, raise or underpin any such wall or for any other purpose;
In layman’s terms, what this means is that any works including any works to a party wall, including the cutting away of a chimney breast will be governed by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
Why do you need a party wall agreement to action this chimney breast removal?
To address this, you would simply need to refer to the previously referenced section 3 of the Act which specifies:
Before exercising any right conferred on him by section 2 a building owner shall serve on any adjoining owner a notice (in this Act referred to as a “party structure notice”)
Following a dissent, a dispute would arise and will need to be dealt with via a Party Wall Agreement by surveyors appointed per section 10.
Several problems can come with not having a party wall agreement in place from the perspective of both a Building Owner and an Adjoining Owner.
Building Owner:
- The lack of protection against false claims of damage due to an absence of a Schedule of Condition report.
- Possible major delays to works if the adjoining owner proceeds to obtain Party Wall Injunction via the courts.
- Major cost implications if works have to halt.
- Tension with neighbours.
- lack of means of arbitration.
Adjoining Owner:
- The lack of protection against damage that may be caused due to the neighbouring works.
- Lack of confirmation of methodology of how to support the remaining stack.
- The lack of a Party Wall Agreement may result in issues when endeavouring to sell your property as a purchaser would feel hesitant to buy into a property with no protections in place.
- Possibility of incurring the cost for rectifying damages that you did not cause.
- No specified limitations/restrictions on construction working hours or the use of pneumatic tools concerning the Party Wall.
As listed above, there are many issues related to not having a Party Wall agreement in place.
To many adjoining owners’ disbelief, once the building owners’ notifiable works have begun and have been completed there are no consequences enforceable under the Party Wall etc Act 1996 to the building owner for not serving notice per se.
Nonetheless, if the building owner is caught amidst the works by an adjoining owner with the notifiable works being yet to have been completed, the only legal redress available in this respect is to obtain a Party Wall Injunction.
If you believe your neighbour is intending to carry out construction works that you believe are notifiable under the Act, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our highly qualified and experienced team of surveyors today. We are more than happy to give our professional opinions and advice to put your worries at ease.
