In today’s Property Surveying blog, we are going to be looking at procedures surrounding party wall surveying matters.
Party wall surveying matters will come into play when the building owner, who is the property owner undertaking construction works, plans on undertaking works to their property which fall within the realm of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
Under the requirements of the Act, the building owner will need to serve a Party Wall Notice upon the adjoining owner, who is the property owner who borders or adjoins the planned construction works. With that Notice being served a minimum of one month, or two months, in advance of the planned works commencing.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is in place to ensure that adjoining owners are given consideration and protection above and beyond common and civil law.
The Act will set out a range of procedures and protocols that a building owner needs to adhere to both in advance of the works taking place and during the works taking place themselves.
In order for the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 to be applicable and invoked, it starts with the building owner serving the Party Wall Notice upon the adjoining owner.
Once the adjoining owner has received the Party Wall Notice, they will have the legal right of three Party Wall Notice options. We are now going to take a look at these in closer detail.
Consenting to the Party Wall Notice
Consenting to the Party Wall Notice effectively means that the adjoining owner will be reserving the protections that the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 affords them.
This response, means that the formalities and protocols as set out by the Act will not be administered, with the building owner being free to progress and commence their works without further delay.
Dissenting and Appointing Their Own Party Wall Surveyor
The next option that an adjoining owner has at their disposal, is to dissent to the Party Wall Notice and appoint their own party wall surveyor by response.
Selecting this option will ultimately mean that the adjoining owner wants the provisions and protections of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 administered, importantly with those protections setting out that the procedures and conventional steps that a building owner must go through the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 are taken into account.
Under the norms and procedures of the Party Wall etc. Act, the building owner will need to bear the cost of the adjoining owner’s party wall surveyor’s reasonable fee.
If the adjoining owner selects this option, the building owner will also need to appoint their own party wall surveyor, with that party wall surveyor acting wholly on the building owner’s behalf.
The two party wall surveyors will then liaise, communicate and ultimately resolve the “dispute” that exists through the eyes of the Section 10 of the Act itself:
Where a dispute arises or is deemed to have arisen between a building owner and an adjoining owner in respect of any matter connected with any work to which this Act relates either—
both parties shall concur in the appointment of one surveyor (in this section referred to as an “agreed surveyor”); or
each party shall appoint a surveyor and the two surveyors so appointed shall forthwith select a third surveyor (all of whom are in this section referred to as “the three surveyors”).
Dissenting and Appointment an Agreed Party Wall Surveyor
The final option that an adjoining owner has at their disposal is to dissent to the Party Wall Notice and appoint an agreed party wall surveyor.
An agreed party wall surveyor has similarities to a two surveyor role. However, the only important distinction and difference is that there is a single party wall surveyor acting on behalf of both owners, as opposed to the aforementioned option, whereby each respective owner (the building owner and the adjoining owner) will have their own party wall surveyors on board.
Once a Party Wall Notice has been served, the statutory timings and clock have started.
The starting point is an adjoining owner will have 14 calendar days to respond to the Party Wall Notice, while also allowing an additional two days postage allowances.
The 16 full days are in place to ensure that an adjoining owner has sufficient time to consider their Party Wall Notice response option, while also making necessary enquiries with party wall surveyors and other advisors so that they are fully aware of exactly what the party wall procedures mean.
In the event that an adjoining owner does not respond to the Party Wall Notice within the 16 days set out previously, the building owner will be able to serve another Party Wall Notice upon the adjoining owner.
This Party Wall Notice is known as a Section 10(4) Notice, or alternatively a Party Wall Notice reminder.
The Section 10(4) Notice will give the adjoining owner a further 10 calendar days to respond to the Party Wall Notice, allowing a further 2 days for postage.
This takes the total Section 10(4) timings up to 12 days.
Taking account both the initial notice and the reminder notice, an adjoining owner will have round about a full month to respond to the Party Wall Notice and consider their Party Wall Notice response options.
In the event that an adjoining owner has not responded to the initial Party Wall Notice or the Section 10(4) Notice, the Act then gives the building owner protection and provision to keep matters moving forward.
At this stage, the adjoining owner would then have lost their right of free choice of a party wall surveyor, with the building owner ultimately being able to appoint a party wall surveyor on the non-responsive owner’s behalf.
The logic and consideration behind this addition to the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, is that an adjoining owner who doesn’t want construction works to commence, can simply not choose to respond, thereby thwarting or delaying the party wall surveying procedures.
In giving an adjoining owner the right to appoint a surveyor on their behalf, the adjoining owner is very much compelled by timing to act proactively and promptly in respect of Party Wall Notice responses.
Party Wall Notices are naturally going to be a topic of concern for adjoining owners, in many cases it will be the first time they have been made aware or have found out about the planned construction works.
For building owners, they will want to ensure that the Party Wall Notice is thorough in terms of information and detail, however also simple in terms of explanation, as the last thing they will want to do is cause concern or worry to their neighbour.
If you would like to discuss party wall surveying procedures with our team of qualified and experienced party wall surveyors, you can give us a call today, or simply pop us an email, and we would be more than happy to assist and advise you.
