Thank you for tuning in to this week’s informative Surveying Blog. In this week’s Blog post we will be looking at the options available to an adjoining owner who doesn’t consent to work after receiving a Party Wall Notice.
Following approval of the Local Authority Planning Department, should the works be notifiable in accordance with the Party Wall etc Act, a building owner’s next step should be to notify all adjoining owners that may be affected by these works via a Party Wall Notice.
Party Wall Notices are in place to first and foremost invoke the Party Wall etc Act 1996 upon the adjoining owner(s), however, also notify them of the building owner’s proposed and planned works to their property.
Party Wall Notices should be simple in their form, the notification should also include enough information so that the adjoining owner can make a fully-informed decision in response to the Party Wall Notice received.
Once notice is served, the adjoining owner(s) has 3 response options available to them:
Response Option 1: Party Wall Notice Consent
Consenting means the adjoining owner will be giving the go-ahead without any further of the Act’s procedures being followed.
Here at Stokemont, in an attempt to ensure the building owners’ protection against any potential false damage claim as well as any damage occurring to a consenting adjoining owner during or post-construction work, we would still highly recommend that a Schedule of Condition Report of the adjoining owner’s property is opted for.
A Schedule of Condition Report involves a Party Wall Surveyor visiting the adjoining property before the construction work commences, to record the condition, the surveyor will would then provide a copy of this report to each respective owner acting as a record of proof in the event of a damage claim.
The building owner would be liable for the Schedule of Condition Report fees, should the adjoining owner wish to have the report undertaken.
Response Option 2: Party Wall Notice Dissent, Agreed Surveyor Appointment
Dissenting and appointing an Agreed Party Wall Surveyor means that one Surveyor acts impartially on behalf of both the building owner and the adjoining owner.
The Surveyor’s role will be to protect the interests of both owners impartially via the agreement of a Party Wall Award which is a legal document, governing the construction work and adding damage protection above and beyond common law for both the building owner and the adjoining owner.
The building owner would be solely legally liable for both Party Wall Surveyors’ fees.
Response Option 3: Party Wall Notice Dissent, Two Surveyor Appointment
Dissenting and appointing their own Surveyor will mean that an adjoining owner will also need to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor. Both Surveyors will select a third surveyor in the interim who can mediate any disputes. Other than this, the surveyors will undertake the same roles as response option 2, concluding their input via the agreement of a Party Wall Award.
The building owner would be legally liable for both Party Wall Surveyors’ fees.
Taking the above into account, as an adjoining owner, if you choose not to consent, you essentially have the choice to either:
- Dissent and Appoint an Agreed Surveyor
- Dissent and Appoint an Independent Surveyor
Once an option has been selected, the next stage would be for a Schedule of Condition to be arranged for a record of the current condition of the demise to be undertaken either by the surveyor or surveyors, if two are included within the procedure.
Following this, the legally binding document will be drafted by the surveyors(s) and agreed upon with all protections being in place for the respective properties including in the procedure.
Deciding on which option to proceed with can be stressful especially if you desire to reduce the overall cost to be incurred by your neighbour simply because you are on good neighbourly terms. Similarly, you may for peace of mind knowing that you have two independent surveyors dealing with the matter as opposed to one acting on behalf of both parties.
Here at Stokemont, we take great pride in assisting our clients and owners and ensuring that they are fully informed.
If you are either a building owner planning works or an adjoining owner whose neighbour is planning works and would like to discuss party wall surveying procedures with our team of surveyors, give us a call today. We will be more than happy to assist and advise.
