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 even to insert damp proofing
Demolish and rebuild a common boundary
Increase the height of a wall
Increase 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 property owners. Party Wall Surveys Earlswood cannot cut into your side of the party wall without informing your neighbors of your intentions. The act will not provide for 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 some other legal redress.
Your neighbors cannot stop you from exercising your rights under the Party Wall Act but 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 instance specifically refers to any extra nuisance in addition to whatever would predictably occur once the work is carried out in the proper manner.
Owners of adjoining properties should take note that the main reason for the Party Wall Act would be 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 on your behalf and the dispute resolution process will proceed without your consent.
Appointing a celebration Wall Surveyor
In the case an agreement can't be reached between adjoining home owners, the legal requirement would be to appoint a celebration Wall Surveyor. Surveyors are legally mandated to do something impartially; they should not favor the appointing owner. The house owners could also appoint a surveyor each to allow them to arrived at an agreement with the person. However, it is a more expensive 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 selecting surveyor, one must be careful to appoint a specialist with a history of surveys of the nature. It is because it is a highly specialized field with serious legal implications in the case an error or omission is committed.
If you are 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 get help from top notch Party Wall Act surveyors.