Adjoining Owners

If you have received a Notice regarding the Party Wall Act it means that your neighbour is carrying out construction work that may affect your property. The Party Wall etc Act 1996 enables your neighbour to carry out work without interference whilst at the same time safeguarding your property from the effects of the work.

The Party Wall Act does not allow you to prevent any work from going ahead. Any objections should have been made at the earlier stage of planning permission.

If your neighbour has started building works but not served you a Party Wall Notice then it is advisable to ask your neighbour why. If it turns out that you require a Party Wall Surveyor or do not receive a satisfactory answer and need advice, then please call us 020 8001 4257 or send a message.

You should receive 2 months notice before works to a party wall commence. For foundation or excavation works 1 months notice is required.

The timeline of events is as follows:

• On receipt of the Notice you / the Adjoining Owner will have the option to ‘Consent’ or ‘Dissent’. This means that you either agree for works to go ahead without any further ado or you would prefer to have a formal documented outline of the the works to be carried out, and a possible list of restrictions on how it is carried out. This is the Party Wall Award. If you consent it is advisable to have a Schedule of Condition Report undertaken on your property.
• In preparation of the Party Wall Award you will require a surveyor to represent you and have the option to either use the neighbour’s / Building Owner’s surveyor or to appoint your own Party Wall Surveyor. Either way this is at no cost to you, the Building Owner pays for this.
• If you do not reply within 14 days of receipt of the Party Wall Notice then you will be deemed to have dissented and the Building Owner will appoint a surveyor to act for you.
• A Schedule of Condition Report of the affected parts of your property is often undertaken. This provides a record of the condition of the property before commencement of the works. If you have employed your own surveyor then he or she will be present when this is carried out.
• A Party Wall Award document is then prepared and signed by the surveyor(s). This will detail any precautions that must be taken, any restrictions, access rights, the works to be undertaken and any other issues pertaining to the work. A copy of this is given to both the Building Owner and the Adjoining Owner.
• Construction proceeds.
• On completion of works the condition is checked.
• If there is no damage the matter is signed off.
• If there is any damage, this is listed and you can choose to either take compensation or have the repairs carried out by the Building Owner’s contractor.