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.
MOSTLY Used Rights
The most commonly used 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 even 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 Beneath the Act
If you intend to carry out any work to common boundaries, you must give notice to all or any adjoining home owners. https://open-isa.org/members/jacketnut8/activity/927994/ cannot cut into your side of the party wall without informing your neighbors of your intentions. The act does not give any specific enforcement procedures but if 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 beneath the Party Wall Act however they have a say in when and how the work is undertaken. The act also expressly states that you might not cause unnecessary inconvenience to your neighbors. http://budtrader.com/arcade/members/otterscrew9/activity/5492170/ in this instance specifically refers to any additional nuisance in addition to that which would predictably occur when the work is carried out in the correct manner.
Owners 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 the event you fail to respond 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 Party Wall Surveyor
In the case an agreement can't be reached between adjoining property 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 may also appoint a surveyor each for them to come to an agreement on their behalf. However, this is the more expensive 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 choosing surveyor, one should be careful to appoint a professional with a track record of surveys of the nature. It is because this is the highly specialized field with serious legal implications in the event one or omission is committed.
If you are planning some work as well as your neighbor has failed to react to your notice or you are currently involved in a dispute, call AA Projects and obtain help from first class Party Wall Act surveyors.