This blog post is written for building owners who are about to embark on construction works that fall within the realm of the Party Wall etc Act 1996.
Under the requirements of the Act, they have the legal duty to serve a party wall notice upon their neighbour, the adjoining owner.
We are going to be discussing party wall notices and particularly what a positive party wall notice response can mean for building owners.
To best understand what a positive party wall notice response can mean, we must first look at the various different party wall notice response options that the Act affords an adjoining owner in receipt of a notice.
WHAT ARE THE NOTICE RESPONSES?
The Act recognises three different party will notice response options that adjoining owners are at their discretion to select upon receipt of a party wall notice.
RESPONSE OPTION ONE; PARTY WALL NOTICE CONSENT
A party wall notice consent means that the adjoining owner, having been served with a party wall notice, decides to consent to the works.
A notice consent means that they do not want to go through any of the formal procedures that the Act sets out.
Notably, for the building owner, it will mean that they are free to progress with the proposed works without any further professional formality.
Notably, for an adjoining owner it means they will not be calling upon the professional input from a party wall surveyor.
RESPONSE OPTION TWO: PARTY WALL NOTICE DISSENT WITH APPOINTMENT OF A SEPARATE SURVEYOR
Upon receipt of a party wall notice, if the adjoining owner wants the input of a party wall surveyor, the Act gives them the right to dissent to that notice.
In dissenting to the notice, they are able to appoint a party will surveyor to act on their behalf and in simple terms, that surveyor will assess the impact of the building owner’s works upon their property.
This assessment is very much within the framework of the Act. The distinction is that the party wall surveyor will not be looking at the overall project that the building owner is undertaking, instead restricting the assessment to those works that specifically fall within the governance of the Act itself.
Notably, the adjoining owner can select their own party wall surveyor who will act wholly on their behalf. In selecting this option, the building owner will also need to appoint their own surveyor.
RESPONSE OPTION TWO: PARTY WALL NOTICE DISSENT WITH APPOINTMENT A SURVEYOR TO ACT ON BEHALF OF BOTH OWNERS
This response option is very much the same as response option two,however rather than there being two different surveyors. A single party wall surveyor will act on behalf of both the building owner and adjoining owner in an impartial capacity.
WHAT’S A POSITIVE RESPONSE?
If building owner’s aim is to obtain the most time and cost-effective response, a party wall notice consent best achieves this.
However, it’s important to note that consents are rare.
In this age of heightened concern from neighbouring works, construction horror stories and increased financial burden on homeowners. Most adjoining owners will want to rely upon the property protections the Act provides.
In our opinion, both party wall notice consent and a single impartial surveyor appointment are the most positive responses a building owner can receive.
SELF SERVICE VS SURVEYOR SERVICE?
In our experience, when a party wall notice is served by a surveyor, the adjoining owner will be offered two different consent options:
CONSENTING WITH A SCHEDULE OF CONDITION, OR, WITHOUT ONE.
In offering an adjoining owner the option to select a schedule of condition report, they benefit from the input of a party wall surveyor, albeit the input will be limited to just the report. For some adjoining owners this can be enough.
However, if the adjoining owner does want to dissent, the adjoining owner will have a point of call to discuss the matters further with that surveyor. This lends itself well to that surveyor being appointed as the single impartial surveyor.
There are many owners who opt to serve their own party wall notices. There are also many sites out there such as partywallhelp that provide DIY style notice creators. We also have our own.
We would tend to advise only using these if neighbourly relations are good, party wall matters and construction works have been discussed with the adjoining owner and there is already a verbal confirmation for what the party wall notice response will be.
The risk in a building owner serving their own party wall notice, is that the adjoining owner may seek the advice of a surveyor, this could result in the appointment of a separate surveyor.
A TIP FOR OWNERS
Party wall procedures are confusing, one of the Act’s biggest oversights is that it doesn’t define a party wall surveyor as requiring any form of professional qualification.
As a result of this, there are a multitude of different party wall surveyors in the market that not only lack qualification, but also experience.
For this reason, make sure any advice you obtain is from a trusted source and ideally a qualified surveyor.
Want to Discuss this Further? – If you would like to discuss this blog, party wall matters, or a specific party wall issue or question. Please feel free to reach out to our surveyors and we will be more than happy to assist.
