The Party Wall Act - Implications for All Parties
The UK Party Wall Act of 1996 was enacted to avoid and solve disputes between neighbors who share a standard 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.
Most Commonly 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 common boundary
Raise the height of a wall
Raise the thickness of a wall
Underpin the party wall
Your Duties Under the Act
If you plan to perform any work to common boundaries, you must give notice to all or any adjoining home owners. You cannot cut into your side of the party wall without informing your neighbors of one's intentions. The act will not give any specific enforcement procedures but in the event that you fail to serve notice, you risk being served with a court injunction or your neighbor(s) may seek various other legal redress.
Your neighbors cannot stop you from exercising your rights under the Party Wall Act however they have a say in when and how the work is undertaken. The act also expressly states that you may not cause unnecessary inconvenience to your neighbors. Inconvenience in this case specifically refers to any additional nuisance in addition to whatever would predictably occur when the work is carried out in the proper manner.
Owners of adjoining properties should take notice that the main reason for the Party Wall Act is to facilitate development and is not meant to be considered a hindrance. In the event you fail to react to a notice given under the act, the developer/building owner may appoint a surveyor in your stead and the dispute resolution process will proceed without your consent.
Appointing a celebration Wall Surveyor
In the event an agreement cannot be reached between adjoining property owners, the legal requirement is to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor. Surveyors are legally mandated to act impartially; they should not favor the appointing owner. The house owners could also appoint a surveyor each for them to come to an agreement on their behalf. However, this is the more costly and time-consuming option. In the former case, the dog owner intending to undertake work pays the surveyors fees including fees reasonably incurred by his neighbor(s).
When selecting surveyor, one should be careful to appoint a professional with a track record of surveys of this nature. Simply because that is a highly specialized field with serious legal implications in the case one or omission is committed.
If https://westmidlandssurveyor.co.uk/best-party-wall-surveys-west-midlands/ are planning some work and your neighbor has failed to respond to your notice or you are currently involved with a dispute, call AA Projects and get help from first class Party Wall Act surveyors.