by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
I am doing a mansard loft conversion and two Adjoining Owners of the same property elected to appoint a surveyor. The head Leaseholder and Freeholders sent the valid notices to the same surveyor who signed the notices on their behalf appointing himself to act. He said that he could act on my behalf as well as agreed surveyor. I was not happy about this but felt that I had no choice in order to keep costs down in a small domestic project and I am a first time buyer on a tight budget.
The total bill is £2,467.50 inc VAT. I had understood when I was researching party wall surveyors that fixed fees are in the region of £1,200 and have seen guidance notes prepared by party wall surveyors on the internet which state that a standard loft conversion should entail between 4-6 hours of work by a surveyor.
I would like to know what steps I can take and if these fees are likely to be reasonable in the circumstances. Am I entitled to insist on a print out of the firm’s time recording system evidencing the time spent on this matter?
Answer
You were under no obligation to appoint the same surveyor as your neighbour – if you had appointed your own surveyor they could have challenged the Adjoining Owners’ surveyor’s fee on your behalf. Although it is obviously too late to do so in this case I would always suggest obtaining a fixed fee, or at the very least an hourly rate and an estimate of the likely time involved, prior to confirming such an appointment.
The only method of challenging an Agreed Surveyor’s fee is by appealing the Award. You have 14 days in which to do that following receipt of the documents although I have heard that the County Court is sometimes flexible on the timing.
It is beyond the scope of this service to review surveyors’ fees but you should be provided with a breakdown of how the time accrued if nothing was agreed in advance. If you do not/have not appealed the Award you are obliged to pay the fee as stated in the Award.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
If I am building a wall and an extension behind a wooden fence, and the wall is at least 2 inches from the fence. Do I only need to send them a party wall notice in regards to foundations and nothing else?
Answer
If your new wall/extension is 2 inches back from the boundary then a Section 1 notice is not required. Notice under Section 6 will be required if you are excavating within 3 metres of an Adjoining Owners’ structure and deeper than the base of its foundations.
Follow-up
I have read something about 6 metres – 45 degree angle appearing in the Party Wall Act what does that relate to?
Answer
There is a 6 metre rule (Section 6(1) of the Act) but if you are serving a 3 metre notice you needn’t worry about that.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
My neighbour who is a registered builder has this week started excavations of his drive to provide a side extension to his property. He has not issued a Party Wall act Notice. When approached about the excavations being within less than 1 metre of my property he became very aggressive.
The property concerned is a brick garage which was an adjoining garage, my neighbour took his side down without asking permission and left my wall which was the internal wall as open brease block and no side to the garage at the top, so he has already caused damage.
I have the concern now that the Party Wall Act was not issued and he will cause more structural damage as he is digging lower than my garage foundations. Am I wasting my time taking this any further?
Answer
I would not say that you are wasting your time taking this any further but it may be that you need to take legal action. I would start with a letter from an experienced local Party Wall Surveyor or a solicitor pointing out to him that the work comes within the scope of the Act and you should be served with a notice. It may be necessary to threaten an injunction to make him take notice.
If he ignores the letter you will have to decide whether you are happy to pay the up front legal costs of an injunction and claim them back later. Should he come on to your land without serving a notice he will be trespassing.
If he thinks that you intend to enforce your rights he may decide it is best to follow the correct procedures.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
My neighbour is building a brick garage on the side of his house and the external wall will be 15cm (fifteen cm) from the boundary line. The plans state that the foundations will go up to the boundary line. The building will create a small alleyway between his and our side walls. There is exactly enough room up to the boundary line on our side for us to take our black wheelie bin down the passage.
We intend to gate the alleyway for extra security but this leaves a gap on his side of the boundary line of 15cm. He intends to run his downspouts for gutter water onto the outside of his external side wall into the alley and into a grid presumably. Can he do this with only 15cm knowing that he will have no access to his downspouts or grids? His proposed garage extension allows him no access to his back garden as he has left only a strip of 15cm (presumably for overhang of gutters and soffits).
Answer
An owner can build right up to their boundaries including the airspace above their land. This will not, however, provide your neighbour with a right of access in future to maintain rainwater fittings etc. If such access were required, and you were unwilling to grant it your neighbour would have to obtain a court order under the access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992.
There is also the issue of access to build the garage – if the work does not come within the scope of the Party Wall Act access would only be with your consent and the Access to Neighbouring Land Act cannot be used for new work; only maintenance. The work will come within the scope of the Party Wall Act if the foundations for the garage are within 3 metres of your property and deeper than your foundations. If that is the case your neighbour should serve you with a Notice of Adjacent Excavation.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
I am planning to make a side infill extension (pitched roof) to my terraced property. There is a brick wall between the neighbouring property and mine, serving as the boundary wall between us. Obviously for my new extension I will have to break that wall and make a new wall which will be a part of my extension/new room. I know that I need to serve a party wall notice to my neighbours but after going through the official documents relating to party wall notices I am not sure which notice I need to serve.
Will it be for making a new wall astride the boundary or just next to the boundary within my site, or will it be for excavations as there will be some excavation happening to put in the trench foundation? How do I know that my foundation will be deeper than theirs? You said somewhere in your post that it’s guess work but how do I guess if I do not have a clue about the depth of foundations for such houses. They were built in 1880 I think.
Answer
If the boundary wall is shared it is what the Act refers to as a Party fence Wall. You have the right to demolish a party fence wall and rebuild it as a party wall forming the side of your proposed extension. You should serve a party structure notice referring to section 2(2)(l) of the Act. The foundations to a property built in 1880 will probably be just some corbelled bricks so the foundations to your new wall will be deeper. You will therefore have to serve a second notice, a Notice of Adjacent Excavation, referring to section 6(1) of the Act.
This online tool may be some help with drafting the notice – http://www.mypropertyguide.co.uk/partywall/notice/generator
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
Can you please advise if I can ask my surveyor to include asking my neighbour for the Building Regulations Approval details and the name & insurance details of the builder in the Party Wall Agreement?
Answer
Most party wall Awards will include a clause stating that the notified work should comply with all statutory requirements, including the Building Regulations – that is a requirement of the Act. Your surveyor could go further and request that a copy of the completion certificate from Building Control is provided to him at the end of the works but that would be his decision.
There is also normally a clause stating that the Building Owners are to maintain or cause contractors to maintain adequate insurance against risks such as damage but ultimately such things are the Building Owner’s responsibility. Where there has been damage the surveyors would deal with it under the Act i.e. arrange the contractor to make good or agree compensation (that will be your choice) so unless it was very significant damage the insurance wouldn’t come in to it. Many surveyors would request to see a copy of the contractor’s insurance policy but again that has to be your surveyor’s choice.
You have appointed your surveyor to deal with the dispute on your behalf so as long as he is working with the Act he should be left to do that how he sees fit.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
In relation to the question asked below :
How Far Back From the Line of Junction Should I keep my New Wall to Avoid Serving a Section 1 Notice?
The Question above had existing foundations in place. If you didn’t have existing foundations in place, how could you go about extension design to avoid having to serve notice.
e.g. Neighbours extension might have 600mm depth foundation, which would limit the householders depth to 600mm, could an eccentric foundation or solid slab then be used at that depth and the building line set back the 2-3 inches from the boundary line as you suggest in the original answer?
Left side Neighbour, right side proposed extension as p
xxxxxxx pppppppp
x x p p
x x p p
xxxxxxxxOxxxxxxx
x x x
x x x
x x x
Also a new question (I think), at the point marked on the diagram “O”, ie my back wall past both the centre line of the main party wall, and the brick either side, ie the full thickness. In building an extension you would probably use a metal wall starter, is this classed as a party wall, in that its the same wall that extends all the way across the back of the house or is it only a dividing wall and any part of it.
Answer
Using a raft foundation would be one way of avoiding the need for a Section 6 notice – as long as you don’t need to excavate deeper than the base of your neighbour’s foundations Section 6 is not invoked.
There’s no clear answer to the wall starter question. It comes down to whether the party wall ends at the internal or external face of the rear wall. We tend to include it on a party structure notices where other Section 2 works are being undertaken but personally the risk of damage is so low that I would not serve notice just for a wall starter. Also, if you are keeping back from the line of junction to avoid a Section 1 notice the wall starter will be barely over the line of the party wall.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
I moved into my property several years ago and only noticed a couple of years ago that the adjoining wall (at the front) to our properties has been built on my side of the boundary. The neighbour said it was difficult to dig the concrete out when they were laying the drive and the owner of my house at the time had agreed to the wall being built over on my side / my property
The neighbour is fine about it and said he is happy for sign over the wall to me – is this the best thing or the right thing to do to protect my rights and preserver the original boundary (the boundary wall has been in place for about 11 years, so can this affect where the boundary lies over time) and what sort of agreement would I need – a standard party wall agreement ?
Answer
This isn’t a party wall matter so not something that we cover on www.partywalladvide.com.
From your description it seems that you predecessor gave his consent for the boundary to be moved. If that was not confirmed in writing then it would be up to your neighbour to claim adverse possession. As he seems willing to sign the wall over to you there shouldn’t be an issue but I would recommend that you get the deeds updated to reflect this change.
Like I say though, this is not our specialist area so you should really have a chat with a solicitor.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
Please can you let me know under which circumstances a SOC must be undertaken by a residential party wall surveyor? Is it in fact a requirement?
Answer
It is not mandatory to have a schedule of condition attached to a Party Wall Award although it is considered to be good practice. The only scenario in which it would not be is if the Adjoining Owner refused to provide access – even then we would look to schedule the relevant exterior parts from whatever vantage point we could use.
by The Party Wall Surveyor
Question
My neighbour is refusing to supply a copy of a ‘Party Wall Agreement”. In the beginning I complained that I did not want my neighbour to build his extension I then found it was a permitted development extension. Upon hearing that I had no ability to stop him I gave up. He then sent me a copy of the party wall agreement after getting it sorted out by surveyors and had everything drawn up and in place. He went ahead with the work. Now I want to sell the terrace house I find I need a copy of this agreement and the only one is with the neighbour who years later is still upset an refuses to supply me with a photocopy. What can I do to get a copy, and do I need this to sell the house?
Answer
If by ‘Agreement’ you mean an Award produces by appointed surveyor(s) then your should have been served a copy at the time. If you contact the surveyor that you appointed he should still have a copy. If you consented to the works then all there would be is a signed consent form – if that is the case then nobody other than your neighbour will have one if you didn’t keep a copy. I doubt very much that it will prevent you selling the property.
