Thank you for clicking on today’s property surveying blog post topic. Today we are going to be looking at party wall surveying procedures and in particular, the information that a Party Wall Notice needs to contain in order to be deemed legally valid and properly served.
Under the Party Wall Etc Act 1996, if a building owner is planning on undertaking works to their property, they have a legal duty to serve a Party Wall Notice upon their neighbour, the adjoining owner, a minimum of one or two months in advance of commencing.
The Party Wall Notice not only notifies the adjoining owner of the building owner’s intended works, it also legally invokes the Party Wall Etc Act 1996 upon them and ensures they are afforded the protection that the Act sets out.
Party Wall Notices are therefore key in starting the party wall surveying procedures and as such, here at Stokemont, we thought we would put together a quick checklist so that building owners who want to serve their own Party Wall Notice are fully abreast of the information that needs to be included.
Building Owner Names
In order for a Party Wall Notice to be legally served, the building owner must enter their details into the Party Wall Notice.
Importantly, this will include all names of the legal owners of the property that are planning on undertaking the works.
Adjoining Owner Names
Much like the building owner’s names, in order for the Party Wall Notice to be legally valid, it must include the adjoining owner’s names and full details.
Commonly, these can be obtained through Land Registry Title Deed downloads, thereby ensuring Party Wall Notice validity and service.
Party Wall Works
In order for a Party Wall Notice to be legally valid, there must be confirmation as to what the proposed party wall works are. The Notice itself will need to legally refer to the works that are taking place and inform the adjoining owner what these works are.
The referrals don’t need to be chapter and verse. They do however, need to be clear enough that a lay person can understand what the actual notice is covering.
Confirmation of whether Underpinning is taking place
The Party Wall Notice will need to confirm if the building owner plans to underpin, or strengthen the adjoining owner’s property.
A building owner does have the legal right to underpin or strengthen an adjoining owner’s property if it is necessary.
It is therefore, something that the Party Wall Notice explicitly needs to confirm, usually in capitals, thereby ensuring the Party Wall Notice’s validity.
Works Drawings
In order for the Party Wall Notice to be deemed valid under Section 6(1) of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996, the building owner has to provide drawings of the proposed works.
In particular, those drawings will need to show the site and depth of the proposed foundations. Simply confirming the proposed foundation type in writing is not considered legally valid and therefore, drawings must be included for any works that are being carried out and which fall within the realm of Section 6(1) of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996.
Works Timings
The building owner will have a legal duty to inform the adjoining owner of their proposed start date for the party wall works.
As previously set out, the Party Wall Notice needs to be served a minimum of one or two months of the works commencing. Therefore, in many cases, those timings will be entered into the Notice itself.
However, it goes without saying, the more information that an adjoining owner is given, the better their Party Wall Notice response is likely to be, therefore it is common practice for building owners to confirm specific dates for starting the works.
Property Addresses
In order for a Party Wall Notice to be deemed legally valid, the building owner must enter the applicable address where the proposed works are taking place.
Equally, the building owner will need to enter the address of the adjoining owner’s property that borders/adjoins the proposed works. In some cases, larger property landlords will own multiple properties, and therefore clarifying this is key to Party Wall Notice understanding and enabling an informed Party Wall Notice response.
Signature
As with any legal document, the building owner will need to sign the Party Wall Notice in the conventional way. This will need to be signed by all legal owners of the building owner’s property, thereby giving the Party Wall Notice the necessary legal seal.
Outside of these points, the remaining information in the Party Wall Notice doesn’t form part of the Notice’s legal validity.
However, it is considered good practice to include the additional following information:
Drawings
The best Party Wall Notices are going to include a full pack of drawings and not just those limited to legal requirements.
The notion here being, that an informed adjoining owner is far more likely to make a favourable Party Wall Notice response, whether that be a Party Wall Notice consent or the appointment of an agreed party wall surveyor.
Ultimately, the aim of the Party Wall Notice is to notify the adjoining owner and there is no better way to do this than including a clear pack of drawings.
Party Wall Acknowledgement Form
The party wall acknowledgement form will give the adjoining owner the opportunity to complete and return the form to the building owner.
While this isn’t a legal duty or obligation to include it with the Party Wall Notice, it enables the adjoining owner to respond quickly and clearly, directly to a building owner, thereby setting out their Party Wall Notice response.
Presentation of a Party Wall Surveyor
In order for a building owner to aim for an agreed party wall surveyor appointment, it is commonplace for them to include a selected party wall surveyor’s details within the party wall acknowledgement form.
This will give the adjoining owner to tick/select the party wall surveyor’s name and details which will effectively mean they are agreeing with the appointment of an agreed party wall surveyor. Again, not a legal requirement, however does give the building owner a fair opportunity to gain the most favourable form of Party Wall Notice dissent.
Self Addressed Envelope
The final consideration we would recommend a building owner makes is to include a stamped, self addressed envelope with the Party Wall Notice. This will give the adjoining owner the opportunity to return the Party Wall Notice acknowledgement form without needing to incur the cost of postage.
This isn’t a legal requirement and is very much just a neighbourly consideration. However, here at Stokemont we have seen it bode well for Party Wall Notice responses.
Party Wall Notices are a key 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.
At Stokemont, 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.
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.
