The UK Party Wall Act of 1996 was enacted to prevent and solve disputes between neighbors who share a common boundary. It defines the rights of owner's of buildings in regards to any building, alteration, renovation or repair work to boundaries and walls between adjacent properties.
MOSTLY Used Rights
The most popular rights by building owner's are as follows:
Adjacent excavation and construction
Construction of new party and boundary walls
Cutting into walls to take beam bearings or to insert damp proofing
Demolish and rebuild a standard boundary
Increase the height of a wall
Raise the thickness of a wall
Underpin the party wall
Your Duties Under the Act
If you intend to perform any work to common boundaries, you need to give notice to all or any adjoining home owners. You cannot cut into your side of the party wall without informing your neighbors of your intentions. The act will not give any specific enforcement procedures but in the event that you neglect to serve notice, you risk being served with a court injunction or your neighbor(s) may seek some other legal redress.
Your neighbors cannot stop you from exercising your rights beneath the Party Wall Act but they have a say in when and the way the work is undertaken. The act also expressly states that you might not cause unnecessary inconvenience to your neighbors. Inconvenience in this case specifically refers to any extra nuisance in addition to that which would predictably occur once the work is carried out in the proper manner.
Party Wall Surveys Darlaston of adjoining properties should take note that the main purpose of the Party Wall Act would be to facilitate development and is not meant to be considered a hindrance. In case you fail to respond to a notice given under the act, the developer/building owner may appoint a surveyor on your behalf and the dispute resolution process will proceed without your consent.
Appointing a Party Wall Surveyor
In the case an agreement cannot be reached between adjoining home owners, the legal requirement would be to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor. Surveyors are legally mandated to act impartially; they ought to not favor the appointing owner. The property owners could also appoint a surveyor each for them to come to an agreement on their behalf. However, this can be a more costly and time-consuming option. In the former case, the owner going to undertake work pays the surveyors fees including fees reasonably incurred by his neighbor(s).
When choosing surveyor, one must be careful to appoint a professional with a track record of surveys of the nature. This is because this is usually a highly specialized field with serious legal implications in the event an error or omission is committed.
If you're planning some work and your neighbor has didn't react to your notice or you're currently involved with a dispute, call AA Projects and obtain help from top notch Party Wall Act surveyors.