Surveys & Projects
Dorset's Independent Surveyor
Party Wall
Often building works on or near the boundary of a property that are near or adjoin a neighbours property will require Party Wall consent. The Party Wall etc Act 1996 is an enabling Act which seeks to provide a mechanism for such works to proceed without undue hinderance from neighbourly disputes. Work that is within 3 or 6 meters of your neighbours foundations, or that may affect the structure of your neighbours (e.g. a new basement to an existing block of flats) then such works are notifiable under the Act.
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Unless you have written consent from your neighbour to proceed you should notify them correctly under the appropriate section of the Party Wall etc Act.
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You may find you have been served notice by your neighbour and are in receipt of documents. If this is the case then do call us and we will be able to assist you to make a decision whether to consent or dissent to the works and whether you require a surveyor to act as the 'adjoining owner surveyor' under the Act. Under the Act the building owner is responsible to pay all reasonable surveyors fees whilst the adjoining owner is not liable for any of these costs.
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Alternatively if you are the 'building owner' under the Act you may want us to be the 'building owner surveyor' and prepare and submit the correct notices.
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Often when the 'building owner surveyor' and 'adjoining owner surveyor' have been appointed under the Act they will agree upon access arrangements and quite often prepare a record of condition of the adjoining property within the sphere of influence of the proposed works. All this information is then compiled and agreed between the two surveyors as 'an award'. The adjoining owners then have fourteen days to dissent to the award should they have legitimate concerns and wish to do so.
The party wall proceedures can take 1-4 months to complete depending on the nature of works and responses received. If you are unsure whether you require party wall consent it is a good idea to review this at an early stage as it could slow or even halt works on site and add to the cost of building.