Thank you for clicking on today’s Property Surveying blog post topic, today we are going to be taking an in-depth look at party wall surveying procedures. Particularly, we are going to be looking at the scenario that come into play if a property owner is in the process of selling their home and the buyer’s conveyancer has flagged up that a Party Wall Notice and Award is not in place.
In order for this situation to apply, the building owner/seller of the property would have had to have undertaken construction works to their property relatively recently. Furthermore, those construction works would have fallen within the realm of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
Assuming this is the case, the enquiry made by the purchaser would have likely arisen when the purchaser’s surveyor undertake their pre-purchase survey and probably flagged up that there was construction works being undertaken to the property.
A common recommendation that we make here at Stokemont during our RICS homebuyer report inspections or full building survey inspections is that the purchaser make enquiries via their solicitor to ensure that the necessary party wall procedures were followed.
If there is the unfortunate event whereby the building owner did not serve a Party Wall Notice at the time of undertaking their works, then the purchaser could effectively be purchasing into a situation whereby the neighbouring owner/adjoining owner could hold them accountable for any damages that have allegedly resulted from those works.
The key point here is timing, for these damages to be relevant and claimable, there must be a short period of time between when the works were undertaken to the building owner’s/seller’s property and to when the property was marketed for sale.
The logic behind this being, that if this period of timber is greater than a couple of years, there would have been some form of grumbling or allegation from the neighbouring owner as to the likely damage and effect that is has had on their property.
While there are occasions whereby adjoining owners may not necessarily be aware of damage, in almost all circumstances, even if a property is tenanted, or left unoccupied for a long period of time, it is likely that damage that results from party wall construction works would be noted and put forward in an effort to aid resolution and making good.
It goes without saying, that Party Wall Notices are legally required when a building owner is undertaking a wide variety of works to their property.
These works include, however are not limited to:
Party Wall Works
- Loft conversions.
- Rear extensions.
- Side extensions.
- Front extensions.
- Basement conversions.
- Removal of internal walls and chimney breasts.
- Structural changes.
- Works to party structures/ceilings or floors.
- Changing roof coverings.
- Undertaking injection damp proof course works.
As you can see, the Act is far and wide on the types of works that it covers and as a result building owners will often unknowingly find themselves in a situation whereby they may have undertaken party wall works to their property without having properly considered the legal requirements as set out by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
In the unfortunate event that these works were undertaken recently, the first point of contact a seller should make is with the neighbouring owners. This contact should be to enquire as to any issue or damage that they may believe they have suffered as a result of the recently undertaken construction works.
This contact will likely be in the same format as Party Wall Notice that is served, with a letter being sent from the building owner, or in this case the building owner’s solicitor, direct to the adjoining owner.
The issue you will have, is that when it comes to selling, time is often of the essence, and the buyer will want to progress as soon as possible, likewise the seller will want to get on with matters so that the chain to which they are party to is not interrupted or broken.
The only way a buyer can satisfy themselves that they aren’t going to be legally liable, is for the seller to offer them an undertaking, setting out that if there is any future claim further down the line that they will undertake and be responsible for the damage claims that result and arise from this.
For obvious reasons, many sellers are going to be uncomfortable with this form of undertaking, as they are effectively going to be signing up for an undisclosed claim which may come in both the short and long term.
However, there is no other way to deal with this, as Party Wall Notices cannot be retrospectively dealt with, Party Wall Awards cannot be retrospectively agreed and ultimately if an adjoining owner isn’t contactable, or if the period of time in which to contact them isn’t sufficient, there is simply no other option that a seller has open to them.
This scenario believe it or not does occur relatively commonly. Our advice here at Stokemont if you are unlucky to find yourself in this scenario, is to speak with a party wall surveyor as soon as possible.
A good party wall surveyor will likely be able to offer firm and proactive advice depending on the property types, work types and ultimately confirmation of who the building owner and adjoining owner is.
If you would like to discuss your party wall surveying procedures with our qualified team of RICS party wall surveyors here at Stokemont, please feel free to give us a call today and we will be more than happy to assist and advise you.
