Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of Stokemont’s blog posts! In this post we will be diving into some of the common mistakes that are made by party wall surveyor’s during the Acts procedures.
We hope this can provide you with more knowledge on the things to look out for if you either a building owner or an adjoining owner who is currently going through the party wall procedures.
First, let’s start off with the errors which commonly occur during the early stages of the party wall procedures.
When the party wall procedures first initiate the appointing owner must sign a letter of appointment which legally appoints the party wall surveyor to act on their behalf.
It is important that these letters are signed by all legal owners of the respective properties. The full names of the appointing owners must be obtained through the Land Registry and these names must be exactly what is stated on the register.
Unfortunately, it is common that either the full name is not written on the letter of authority or there are owners names missing from the letter.
Once the letters of authority have been correctly completed the next stage is to produce and serve the party wall notices. At this stage there are multiple different errors which are made by party wall surveyors.
As seen with the letters of authority, it is also common that the full legal names of the adjoining owners are incorrect on the party wall notice. These names must be the ones which are stated on the land registry.
Regrettably, there are sometimes party wall notices that are missing sections which applicable to the proposed works.
For example, a building owner may be planning on building a new wall up to the line of junction but entirely on their own land – which would mean that notice under section 1 (5) would need to be served.
However, the surveyor may only serve notice under section 6 (1) for the excavations taking place to construct the new foundations for this wall.
When serving the party wall notice the party wall surveyor may not provide sufficient drawings to ensure that the notice is valid. If the party wall surveyor is serving a notice under section 6 (1) then a section drawing is required to outline the foundation depth and how the foundation will integrate with the adjoining owner’s property.
Another mistake that is sometimes made by party wall surveyor is that they send the party wall notice to the address adjoining the proposed works. However, this address may not be occupied by the adjoining owner and their contact address may be elsewhere.
Sometimes a party wall surveyor will issue a party wall notice without offering the correct response options available to the adjoining owner.
The adjoining owner should have the opportunity to either consent to the works or dissent to the works and either appoint an Agreed Surveyor or appoint their own party wall surveyor.
Although, in some cases the response form will not include all these options, or they will include unconventional response options.
Moving on from the mistakes that commonly seen when serving party wall notice, we will now look at the mistakes that are commonly made by party wall surveyors when drawing up the party wall award.
A mistake that is commonly made by party wall surveyors is that they put the wrong dates in the award. For example, they may put an incorrect date for when the notice was served or an incorrect date for when the Schedule of Condition was undertaken.
When serving a party wall award, it is essential that the full legal names of the adjoining owners and the building owners are clearly stated. Unfortunately, on some awards the names may be incorrect or there are names that are completely missing.
If an adjoining property changes ownership during the party wall procedures, then the award must be amended so that the new adjoining owner’s names are stated on the party wall award. Regrettably, some party wall surveyors may not update the award when the property changes ownership.
Another mistake that is often made by party wall surveyors at this stage is that they do not include a full pack of architectural & structural drawings.
As previously mentioned, if works are taking place that fall within section 6 of the Act, then a cross section drawing is required to show the foundation depth.
Furthermore, if a loft conversion is taking place, then structural calculations will be required, and these must form part of the award.
That brings us to the end of this instalment of our blog post’s. We hope that this informs you of the errors to look out for if you are currently going through the party wall procedures.
If you are a building owner who has plans to undertake construction works that fall within the Party Wall Act or are an adjoining owner who has recently been served a party wall notice, we would be happy to help.
Please feel free to contact our experienced team of party wall surveyors by clicking here.
