PARTY WALL
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 came into force in September 1997 and not only superseded the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939 but extended the area that it covered to the whole of England and Wales.
The Act generally relates to works and alterations to party structures (e.g. a party wall/floor), the construction of walls near boundaries and excavations within three/six metres of a party structure or a neighbour's building.
Its purpose is to protect the interests of the Adjoining Owner (the neighbour) and to grant additional rights to the Building Owner (the person wishing to carry out building works) in order to assist them in their construction work.
You should seek advice from a chartered building surveyor at the earliest possible date. Once the process has started there are strict time limits governing the procedure and you may end up feeling that you have no control, especially if it is your neighbour who has served notice of a proposal on you.
We can advise whether the Party Wall Act applies to the proposed works on the property, issue the necessary Notices and agree the Party Wall Award with the Adjoining Owner's surveyor.
It is often a requirement for a Schedule of Condition Report to be undertaken to the affected parts of the Adjoining Owner's property. This provides a useful record of the condition of the property before commencement of the works.
Party wall matters can be stressful, confusing and can cause neighbours to fall out and we would encourage and advise homeowners to be transparent and communicate with their neighbours regarding any proposed construction works. No homeowner likes to receive a party wall notice out of the blue without any priory knowledge of any planned construction works to your neighbouring property.
Here at FA Surveyors, we are proud to offer no obligation Party Wall Surveying advice with one of our experienced and qualified Party Wall surveyor who is a member of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors promoting excellence in Party Wall practice. Faheem Anwar has a wealth of property and construction related experience and regularly acts on behalf of building and adjoining owners in respect of Party Wall matters.
At FA Surveyors, we are Chartered building surveyors by profession and this gives us an unparalleled advantage of fully understanding properties as a whole, their defects and the construction process and are able to provide the best practicable advice to protect your interest.
The Act generally relates to works and alterations to party structures (e.g. a party wall/floor), the construction of walls near boundaries and excavations within three/six metres of a party structure or a neighbour's building.
Its purpose is to protect the interests of the Adjoining Owner (the neighbour) and to grant additional rights to the Building Owner (the person wishing to carry out building works) in order to assist them in their construction work.
You should seek advice from a chartered building surveyor at the earliest possible date. Once the process has started there are strict time limits governing the procedure and you may end up feeling that you have no control, especially if it is your neighbour who has served notice of a proposal on you.
We can advise whether the Party Wall Act applies to the proposed works on the property, issue the necessary Notices and agree the Party Wall Award with the Adjoining Owner's surveyor.
It is often a requirement for a Schedule of Condition Report to be undertaken to the affected parts of the Adjoining Owner's property. This provides a useful record of the condition of the property before commencement of the works.
Party wall matters can be stressful, confusing and can cause neighbours to fall out and we would encourage and advise homeowners to be transparent and communicate with their neighbours regarding any proposed construction works. No homeowner likes to receive a party wall notice out of the blue without any priory knowledge of any planned construction works to your neighbouring property.
Here at FA Surveyors, we are proud to offer no obligation Party Wall Surveying advice with one of our experienced and qualified Party Wall surveyor who is a member of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors promoting excellence in Party Wall practice. Faheem Anwar has a wealth of property and construction related experience and regularly acts on behalf of building and adjoining owners in respect of Party Wall matters.
At FA Surveyors, we are Chartered building surveyors by profession and this gives us an unparalleled advantage of fully understanding properties as a whole, their defects and the construction process and are able to provide the best practicable advice to protect your interest.
Further information regarding the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 can be downloaded from the following Links:
A WORD OF WARNING
As with most industries there are good and bad individuals. The difficulty for the lay person is in spotting the less ethical surveyor who are seen by some as using the Act as a ‘cash cow’ and who operate outside the spirit and requirements of the Act. You may be surprised to learn that there are no specific qualifications required to act as a party wall surveyor, however, in order to protect the interest of building/adjoining owners a party wall surveyor should not just have good knowledge of the Act but just as important, he should be experienced in construction methods, building defects, potential risks etc.
The Act is now over twenty seven years old and there is a generation of experienced surveyors who have acquired a good working knowledge of the legislation and case law.
There are three main bodies who regulate Party Wall Surveyors and there is a strict qualification criteria;
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS);
The Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors (FPWS);
The Pyramus & Thisbe Club (P&T).
By appointing a surveyor regulated by one of the above bodies you can rest assured they understand The Act, have guidance on best practice and rules of professional conduct, have the relevant qualifications and good all-round knowledge of architectural design, construction methodology, defects etc. There is a formal complaint procedure in place should your project not be conducted ethically.
There are other organisations who offer a two day course with an open book exam and can enrol you as an Associate member. Following just one-party wall project they can promote you to a member of the association.
An experienced qualified surveyor will look after the interests of both owners irrespective of who appointed the surveyor. They are not appointed to create disputes which do not exist. Appointed Surveyors should act without bias and ensure they promote from the outset cost-effective resolutions for any disputes in pursuance of the Act.
There are a minority group of party wall surveyors who practice in what is known as ‘ambulance chasing’ and who look to use the Act to create or fuel disagreements between homeowners. These companies use local authority planning lists to mass mailshot anyone living next to developments where planning has been granted. These unsolicited letters come through the unexpected neighbour’s door and scaremonger them into appointing them for a potentially pricey party wall surveyor.
Remember for a party wall surveyor to be lawfully appointed there must exist a dispute and a dispute cannot arise until a valid notice is served.
Unlike many party wall surveyors who employ marketing techniques inviting owners to contact them, these firms rely on signing up as many adjoining owners as possible rather than acting for building owners where the costs are in most cases, fixed from the outset. Being appointed as an adjoining owner's surveyor can be far more lucrative than acting for the building owner; because it is the building owner's surveyor that does the bulk of the work!
The Act is now over twenty seven years old and there is a generation of experienced surveyors who have acquired a good working knowledge of the legislation and case law.
There are three main bodies who regulate Party Wall Surveyors and there is a strict qualification criteria;
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS);
The Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors (FPWS);
The Pyramus & Thisbe Club (P&T).
By appointing a surveyor regulated by one of the above bodies you can rest assured they understand The Act, have guidance on best practice and rules of professional conduct, have the relevant qualifications and good all-round knowledge of architectural design, construction methodology, defects etc. There is a formal complaint procedure in place should your project not be conducted ethically.
There are other organisations who offer a two day course with an open book exam and can enrol you as an Associate member. Following just one-party wall project they can promote you to a member of the association.
An experienced qualified surveyor will look after the interests of both owners irrespective of who appointed the surveyor. They are not appointed to create disputes which do not exist. Appointed Surveyors should act without bias and ensure they promote from the outset cost-effective resolutions for any disputes in pursuance of the Act.
There are a minority group of party wall surveyors who practice in what is known as ‘ambulance chasing’ and who look to use the Act to create or fuel disagreements between homeowners. These companies use local authority planning lists to mass mailshot anyone living next to developments where planning has been granted. These unsolicited letters come through the unexpected neighbour’s door and scaremonger them into appointing them for a potentially pricey party wall surveyor.
Remember for a party wall surveyor to be lawfully appointed there must exist a dispute and a dispute cannot arise until a valid notice is served.
Unlike many party wall surveyors who employ marketing techniques inviting owners to contact them, these firms rely on signing up as many adjoining owners as possible rather than acting for building owners where the costs are in most cases, fixed from the outset. Being appointed as an adjoining owner's surveyor can be far more lucrative than acting for the building owner; because it is the building owner's surveyor that does the bulk of the work!
Before you appoint a party wall surveyor, do your homework:
- Check out their LinkedIn page for their experience and career history, if they do not have one then they may have something to hide.
- Ask for a copy of their CV.
- Ask what PII cover they have.
- Ask how often they been appointed as a Building Owner or Adjoining Owner surveyor. They will claim they have undertaken 100s/1000s of party wall projects and in our experience the majority are as an Adjoining Owner's surveyor.
- Ask if they have a Complaint handling procedure.
- Do a name/company search on Google, it may yield invaluable information.
- Ask if the surveyor will act on a fixed fee. An experienced surveyor will fix a fee for the work to be carried out unless the project is technically challenging and fraught with risks.
- Beware of a surveyor who states ‘ don’t worry about your fees as these will be paid by the other party.’ This is normal, but is never guaranteed for the building owner to pay the surveyor’s fees of the neighbour. If his fees are unreasonable, his fees will be challenged and the surveyor could then charge you for the work not covered by or recovered from the Building Owner. Surveyors outside the local area travel all over the UK to undertake their work, so travel time will be added to their fee.
For straight forward loft conversion or rear extension, often there is no need to appoint two surveyors. An agreed surveyor will look after both parties interests and is required to act impartially. This could result in significant cost savings.
Ultimately a good relationship with your neighbours and communication is key. You should discuss the work with them as soon as you are able to, even if they objected to the planning. Spend some time to explain your plans & how you propose to carry out works, what your intended timeline is and how you propose to safeguard their property. Discuss the party wall process and propose the use of an Agreed Surveyor with your neighbours to keep costs down and to save time.
If you require any Party Wall advice or would like to appoint us as the Building Owner’s surveyor or Adjoining Owner’s surveyor then please email us at pw@fasurveyors.com