Survey Design UK Party Walls

The Party Wall etc Act 1996 gives homeowners rights to do work to the party wall (shared wall) and when excavating or building close to the boundary line. The main obligations are to tell the neighbour that the work is to be done and to repair any damage that might be caused by the work.

Under the Act the person carrying out the work is known as the Building Owner and the neighbour is known as the Adjoining Owner. We can act for either or both parties to ensure that the provisions of the Party Wall etc Act are complied with.

Building Owner

We assess the proposals and advise on the Notices to be issued and the need for any further drawings or information that might be needed. We will also identify the Adjoining Owner should this be necessary.

The necessary Notices are then prepared and submitted to the Adjoining Owner following which records of the condition of neighbours’ buildings, party walls and adjacent areas are produced.

If required we will prepare an Award and agree detailed terms with the Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor or act as Agreed Surveyor if appointed.

Should any problems arise during the work, we will re-inspect the property and advise on the appropriate action to be taken.

Adjoining Owner

We would examine the Notices submitted by the Building Owner to ensure that they are valid.

Contact will then be made with the Building Owner’s Surveyor, we will visit your property, examine the building to prepare a record of the condition and then negotiate the Party Wall Award.

On completion of the work we will re-inspect your property to ensure compliance with the Award and if notified of problems during the course of the building work we will inspect and take the appropriate action.

Agreed Surveyor

Often a neighbour wishes to protect his property, but does not object to the proposals and will be happy for us to act as the Agreed Surveyor after receiving the Party Wall Notices. This involves the preparation of a schedule of condition and also the preparation of a Party Wall Agreement, which is given to each party, the building owner and adjacent owner.

Evaluation

For an evaluation of the party wall matters that may affect your property, please send a set of proposed drawings or email them in Autocad format, or, if you are an Adjoining Owner, forward copies of the Notices and any accompanying drawings and we will advise on the best course of action. Dependent on our advice, a fee may of course be chargeable.

Access to Neighbouring Land

The Access to Neighbouring Land Act gives a landowner the right to carry out maintenance to his property from a neighbour’s land. Advice can be given on how to obtain access if a neighbour is being difficult.

Rights of Light

Some proposed developments could affect the light available into a neighbouring property. It is often difficult to prevent a development going ahead, but in some cases a payment might be made by the Developer to the neighbour for the loss of light. We can advise on the loss of light and negotiate the appropriate payment for this loss. One of our associates who we consult with is one of London's most respected experts in this area.

Rights of Way

Many properties have rights of way leading to them or across their gardens. These should be detailed within the deeds, but where there is uncertainty, we can advise on this again with reference to the deeds, ordnance survey maps and site inspection.

Boundaries

When owning a property, it is important to know the location of the boundaries and who is responsible for these. The deeds of the property will normally provide these details, but on occasions the actual boundary positions may have been altered following the construction of an extension or other building and in some instances the boundary fences themselves can have been relocated.

From time to time neighbours disagree about the position of a boundary and we can help to agree the boundary position based on the property deeds, ordnance survey maps and site measurements.