In today’s property blogpost, we are going to be discussing Party Wall Notices, and the procedures and timings that should be taken into account during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a normal circumstance, Party Wall Notices have a 14 day run period, followed by a 2 day postage period.
The follow-on Section 104 for Party Wall Notices have a further 10 day run period, followed by a 2 day postage grace period.
While these types of timeframes would have been totally sensible and reasonable in a normal situation, in the situation that we currently find ourselves in, with a vast majority of businesses being shut down, staff heavily reduced, and generally things moving a lot slower than the norm, here at Stokemont, we would advise that Party Wall Notices and the statutory periods applied to them, are also viewed through the perspective of this lens.
This would mean that rather than there being a conventional timeframe applied to Party Wall Notice responses, we would actually suggest that these are increased, thereby allowing added time for the adjoining owner to not only receive the Party Wall Notice, but ultimately to make their enquiries with party wall surveyors upon receipt.
Here at Stokemont, we have noticed that almost all surveying firms have been affected by the pandemic, with many of them having a reduced number of surveyors available to assist with surveying work, which will ultimately mean that things move slightly slower.
We would therefore advise all building owners who are serving, or are planning to serve Party Wall Notices, that they allow an increased period for the adjoining owner to respond.
To start with, we would recommend that the 14 day statutory Notice period is increased to 18 days, furthermore, we would suggest that the 2 day postage period is increased to 4 days.
This would likewise apply to the follow-on Section 104 Notice, in which we would recommend that the 10 day statutory Notice period is increased to 14 days, and the 2 day postage period is increased to 4 days.
While these timings will ever so slightly increase the statutory Notice period, and slow the response time down, ultimately it will ensure that the adjoining owners are given a full and fair opportunity to review and respond to the Party Wall Notice.
If you would like to discuss party wall surveying procedures with our team of qualified and experienced party wall surveyors here at Stokemont, give us a call today and we will be more than happy to assist you.
Did you know that we also regularly give 60 minutes free no-obligations party wall surveying advice to all callers? If you would like to take us up on this offer, give us a call now.
