Hello and welcome to another instalment of Stokemont’s blog series, today we will be diving into the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and touching on Party Wall Surveyors.
The Party Wall Act was introduced to provide a method for resolving disputes in relation to construction works which could potentially have an impact to adjoining properties nearby.
Anyone intending to undertake construction works that fall within the remit of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is legally required to serve a party wall notice upon all relevant adjoining owners.
So, what works fall within the remit of the Act?
Under the Act there are three sections which construction works can fall into.
SECTION 1
If a building owner is planning on building a new wall up to the line of junction but entirely on their own land, then they will need to serve a notice under section 1(5) on the adjoining owner.
A building owner can serve a notice under section 1(2) if they wish the build a new wall astride the line of junction.
This means that half of the wall will be built on their land and the other half on the adjoining owner’s land. A building owner is only permitted to do this with the consent of the adjoining owner.
SECTION 3
Section 3 of the Act relates to various types of works which are carried out directly to the party wall or structure.
For example, a building owner maybe cutting into the party wall for the installation of padstones to support the insertion of steel beams.
Or the building owner maybe proposing to demolish the existing party fence wall and rebuilding it as part of their proposed extension.
The works set out above would fall within section 3 of the Act.
SECTION 6
Works that fall within section 6 of the act relate to excavations.
If a building owner is proposing to carry out excavations within 3m of an adjoining property and excavating to a greater depth than the adjoining owner’s foundations, then their works will fall within section 6 of the Act.
If a building owner is undertaking excavations within 6m of the adjoining property, this could also fall within section 6 of the Act. If you were to draw a line in a 45-degree angle in the direction of the excavation and this meets the adjoining foundation, then this would fall within section 6.
PARTY WALL NOTICE
When a building owner is undertaking works which fall either of the sections set out above then they are required to serve party wall notice upon all relevant adjoining owners.
For works that fall within section 1 & 6 they building owner is required to serve notice one month prior to the commencement of the works.
If they are proposing to carry out works that fall within section 2 of the Act, then they will be required to serve notice two months prior to the commencement of the works.
The party wall notice should set out the nature of the proposed works and which sections of the Act the works fall within. Furthermore, the notice should clearly state the response options available to the adjoining owner which you are serving the party wall notice upon.
The party wall notice has a 14-day response period and if no response is received by the adjoining owner within this period the building owner is required to serve a further notice under section 10(4) of the Act.
This will allow the adjoining owner a further 10 days to respond to the party wall notice. If at this stage, there is still no response a dispute is deemed to have arisen and the building owner would be able to appoint a party wall surveyor on behalf of the non-responsive adjoining owner to allow the building owner to proceed with their proposed works.
As a building owner it is very important to ensure that you follow the correct protocol for notice service as failing to do this can cause delays to your proposed works. Please feel free to read more about party wall notice service by clicking here.
Our experienced team of party wall surveyors are always on hand to assist with your party wall matters.
If you are a building owner who is required to serve a party wall notice feel free to get in touch by clicking here, we would be happy to assist you with this and ensure that your proposed works go ahead smoothly.
