In today’s informative edition of our blog, we are going to be looking at who should be serving Party Wall Notices and Party Wall Surveying procedures.
Once a building owner planning construction works has obtained all necessary planning approvals, prior to commencing, should the works be notifiable in accordance with the Party Wall etc Act, the next step would be to notify all adjoining owners that may be affected by these works via a Party Wall Notice.
If the works are to be directly to the Party Wall, Notice would need to be served 2 months before the planned works.
If the works are to be directly to the Party Wall, Notice would need to be served 1 month before the planned works.
Party Wall Notices are in place to first and foremost invoke the Party Wall etc Act 1996 upon the adjoining owner(s), however, also notify them of the building owner’s proposed and planned works to their property.
Party Wall Notices should be simple in their form, the notification should also include enough information so that the adjoining owner is able to make a fully-informed decision in response to the Party Wall Notice received.
Once notice is served, the adjoining owner(s) has 3 response options available to them:
Response Option 1: Party Wall Notice Consent
Consenting means the adjoining owner will be giving the go ahead without any further of the Act’s procedures being followed.
Here at Stokemont, in attempt to ensure the building owners protection against any potential false damage claim as well as any damage occurring to a consenting adjoining owner during or post construction work, we would still highly recommend that a Schedule of Condition Report of the adjoining owner’s property is opted for.
A Schedule of Condition Report involves a Party Wall Surveyor visiting the adjoining property prior to the construction work commencing, to record the condition, the surveyor will would then provide a copy of this report to each respective owner acting as a record of proof in the event of damage claim.
The building owner would be liable for the Schedule of Condition Report fees, should the adjoining owner wish to have report undertaken.
Response Option 2: Party Wall Notice Dissent, Agreed Surveyor Appointment
Dissenting and appointing an Agreed Party Wall Surveyor means that one Surveyor acts impartially on behalf of both the building owner and the adjoining owner.
The Surveyor’s role will be to protect the interests of both owners impartially via the agreement of a Party Wall Award which is a legal document, governing the construction work and adding damage protection above and beyond common law for both the building owner and the adjoining owner.
The building owner would be solely legally liable for both Party Wall Surveyors’ fees.
Response Option 3: Party Wall Notice Dissent, Two Surveyor Appointment
Dissenting and appointing their own Surveyor will mean that an adjoining owner will also need to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor. Both Surveyors will select a third surveyor at the interim who can mediate any disputes. Other than this, the surveyors will undertake the same roles as response option 2, concluding their input via the agreement of a Party Wall Award.
The building owner would be legally liable for both Party Wall Surveyors’ fees.
Once an option has been selected by the adjoining owners, the next stage would be to arrange for access to the neighbouring properties in order for the Schedule of Condition Report to undertaking either by the surveyor or surveyors, if two are included within the procedure.
So, Who Should serve the Party Wall Notice?
Generally speaking, Party Wall Notices can be drafted and served by a building owner wishing to proceed with the works, or any individual. However, when it comes to an individual being appointed under section 10 of the Act as the Party Wall Surveyor on behalf of a building owner, the individual can be anyone who isn’t party to the matter as in accordance with Act ;
A “surveyor” means any person not being a party to the matter appointed or selected under section 10 to determine disputes in accordance with the procedures set out in this Act.
This essentially means that building owners cannot act as their own surveyor ,neither can family members who reside within the same subject property.
In my experience appointments as well notices have been drafted and served on behalf on building owners by:
Architects
Structural Engineers
Builders
Solicitors
Lawyers
Doctors
The key factors would be for the individual drafting and serving to the notice to have a favourable level of knowledge with respect to the Party Wall etc Act 1996 which would most likely mean the notice served would be valid, furthermore, the individual serving the notice should obtain construction knowledge.
Party Wall Notices are a vital part of the party wall procedures. More often than not, these can be served invalidly, which not only results in misunderstanding by the adjoining owner, however, can also result in the need for Party Wall Notice re-service at a later date, coming at the cost of having to restart the Party Wall Notice timings.
Here at Stokemont we would recommend that Surveyors or qualified property professionals who deal with Party Wall matters on a daily basis and are specialist within this area should be instructed and appointed to deal with Party Wall matters as this would ensure that one of the most prized assets are in safe hands.
We do fully understand that there are going to be building owners that want to take control of the party wall procedures. This being done through the service of their own Party Wall Notice as this would reduce some cost, therefore, If you would like to serve your own Party Wall Notice, there are a number of Party Wall Notice templates on the market. We do have our own which is available here.
Equally, we would also be more than happy to assist with your party wall surveying procedures and prepare or review a Party Wall Notice on your behalf.
If you would like to discuss Party Wall Notices or any other party wall surveying procedures with our team of qualified and experienced party wall surveyors, please feel free to give us a call today and we will be more than happy to assist and advise you.
