Party Wall Advice

for Adjoining Owners

Adjoining Owners

Party Wall Surveyors for Adjoining Owners

An Adjoining Owner is an occupier or owner of land, buildings, storeys or rooms adjoining those of the building owner and for the purposes only of section 6 within the distances specified in that section.

If your neighbours are proposing to undertake any of the following works adjacent to your property, they may be required to serve you with a notice:

  • Converting House Into Flats
  • Internal Alterations
  • Basement Conversion
  • Loft Conversion
  • Garage Conversion
  • Extensions
  • Removing partitions or chimney breasts from a party wall
  • Demolition and re-building of party wall
  • Underpinning the party wall
  • Knocking down and rebuilding a party wall / party fence wall
  • Cutting into a party wall or ceiling/floor (if a party structure such as in flats) for any purpose, but generally to accommodate load bearing beams and bearings
  • Reducing or increasing the height of the party wall
  • Inserting a damp proof course etc.
  • Excavations and foundations within 3 metres and to a greater depth than the foundations of any structure or building belonging to an Adjoining Owner
  • Excavations and foundations within 6 metres of an Adjoining Owner’s structure or building that intersects a 45° line drawn from the bottom of the Adjoining Owner’s foundations
  • Work to some boundary walls, known as “party fence walls”
  • New building up to or astride the boundary line

Q: What do I do if I receive a notice?

If you are an Adjoining Owner and you receive a notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, you will have 14 days to carefully consider how to safeguard your interests. You have three options as follows:

Consent to the Notice and choose not to appoint a surveyor:

If you have no objection to the works and are confident that the risk thereof is minimal, then you may consent to the works and the Building Owner will be able to proceed with his proposed work without the appointment of surveyor/s.

Dissent to the Notice and appoint your own surveyor:

You are entitled to appoint your own surveyor and he/she and the Building Owner’s Surveyor will prepare an award authorising the rights of the Building Owner to proceed with his proposed works.

Dissent to the Notice and concur in the appointment of an Agreed Surveyor:

You may concur in the appointment of one surveyor (Agreed Surveyor) to represent both parties’ interests and he/she will act impartially to draw up an Award. Once the award is served, the works may proceed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Adjoining Owners

If you do not respond to the notices within a period of 14 days following the date of service, a dissent will automatically be deemed to have arisen and a further letter will need to be served by the Building Owner, requesting that you appoint a surveyor within 10 days. Failure to respond thereto, will empower the Building Owner to appoint a surveyor on your behalf, so not to frustrate the progress of his proposed works. Therefore, if you do wish to appoint a surveyor of your choice, you must respond to the notices in writing within such a time period.

If work proceeds without any formal notification being served, an Adjoining Owner has the right to apply to the court for an injunction to be served. This has the effect of ceasing work immediately, until such time surveyors are appointed and the statutory provisions of the Act are adhered to. The service of an injunction is a last resort as it can often be cost prohibitive, but judges take a dim view of Building Owners ignoring their obligations under the Act and in most circumstances, costs are indeed recoverable. Attempting to openly discuss party wall matters with your neighbours at an early stage can often help prevent disputes.

An Adjoining Owner cannot prevent a Building Owner from commencing works that he is entitled to execute under the Act. The Act is an enabling piece of legislation and an Adjoining Owner cannot frustrate the statutory process other than appoint a surveyor to protect his interests.

Although an Adjoining Owner would lose the benefit of having an award prior to the works commencing, if damage does indeed arise as a direct result of the works and the remedy, or costs thereof, cannot be agreed between the respective owners, then the Adjoining Owner may appoint a surveyor at such a stage to resolve the dispute in question. The costs thereof, would be determined by the appointed surveyor/s and are likely to be awarded against the party depending on the validity of the damage claim.

See also:  Party Wall Advice For Building Owners

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