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The Party Wall Act provides legal protection when certain types of construction work that could affect neighbouring properties are being undertaken. If a dispute arises while such work is in progress, a party wall surveyor must be called in. It is the surveyor’s job to check the project and then draw up what is called a party wall agreement (or Party Wall Award). The PWA dictates how the work is to proceed and what should happen if there are issues.
The Party Wall Surveyor has many responsibilities. One is to prepare a Schedule of Condition that catalogues the state of any room or structure in close proximity to construction work done by the building owner. This gives the adjoining owner a certain level of additional legal protection, making claims more easily resolved if future damage occurs.
The work to the Party Wall can cause structural damage to the adjoining owner’s property. This often affects the roof verge, wall finishes, patios, and so forth. Under the Act, the person doing the building work becomes liable for any structural damage to the adjoining owner’s property. It is up to the person doing the building work to ensure that no damage occurs as a result of the work being done, and it is up to them to carry out repairs or to pay the adjoining owner for the repairs if it does occur
The party wall may become damaged for a number of reasons. For example, nearby construction work may have caused damage by accident. Or, a party wall may have been damaged due to conscious misconduct or negligence. If party wall-related damage occurs, the adjoining owner has the following options: (1) ask the builder to make things right; (2) if that doesn’t work, get your own builder to make things right for you and ask the responsible party (the building owner) to reimburse you for what you have paid your builder; or (3) proceed with any number of legal options that a party wall surveyor or solicitor can explain to you.
Claiming compensation under the Party Wall Act is the responsibility of the building owner. If you happen to be the building owner, then you will also need to instruct your contractor to deal with any damage caused to the neighbour’s property during the works.
The damage caused may cover anything from a cracked plaster wall to a broken window. One possible remedy would be to ask the Building Owner’s contractors to fix it. Whether this would be a good idea depends on how competent you think the contractor is. If they seem bad, you might want to bring in a competent contractor of your own and then seek payment from the Building Owner. Typically, your surveyor asks the Building Owner to pay you in advance, particularly if you don’t trust these contractors to do the right thing.
After the work authorized by the Party Wall Award has been done, both the surveyor and the adjoining owner’s surveyor will come again to inspect. Using the original party wall agreement and the schedule of condition as the baseline, they will compare pre-work and post-work conditions in looking for damages that might have been inflicted by the work done under the Party Wall Award. Because the Act provides a clear process for addressing party wall damage, it is usually not necessary for the adjoining building owners to instigate separate legal proceedings to resolve the matter.
In the event that actual damage has taken place, the party wall surveyor(s) will need to provide your insurers for the neighbouring property with a written acknowledgment in the form of an additional award. Ordinarily, this addendum will inform your insurers about what has happened and will estimate the amount of damage done. Then, your insurance company will pass this information on to the neighbouring property owner’s insurance company.
Typically, it is the Building Owner who is required to make good any damage to an Adjoining Owner’s property that is caused by construction work. Although the liability normally falls on the Building Owner, in practice it is usually the builder who is responsible for the damage, so the Building Owner may need to carry insurance. The Adjoining Owner should not need to carry insurance though. However, if you are the Building Owner, it is wise to ensure that the contractor has adequate insurance before you commence work.
Should the building owner be found liable, they would compensate the adjoining owners—following a surveyors’ award—in the form of an addendum. The building owner would pay this to the adjoining owner and then the building owner would seek to recover that sum from their builder. At common law, the builder has a duty to insure. The Act itself says nothing about the matter, unfortunately.
However, it is not uncommon for party wall surveyors to attach a condition to their award that the building owner should employ a builder who has adequate insurance. Building owners might see this as a good reason to ask the builders they employ for proof of insurance.
Yes. If the works will be performed in a risky manner, your party wall surveyor can demand security. The risk is that unfinished work might lead to unsafe conditions. In that case, security is intended to ensure that those conditions will be remedied. The money goes into Escrow, to be paid out only if the work really is unsafe and unfinished.
Yes, but a schedule of condition isn’t mandatory for Party Wall Awards. It is in everyone’s interest for the surveyor(s) to visit the Adjoining Owner’s property and make detailed notes of its condition.
What is the best way to ensure a good relationship with my neighbour in the context of a party wall? The best way, and certainly the simplest, is to keep them informed in advance and consider making some reasonable allowances for any design changes they might want to your wall. If good communication and neighbourliness are kept as primary objectives, the signed agreement will more likely serve as a road map to overcome hurdles.
Your neighbour can not stop the party wall agreement once the Act has been invoked. However, either party can delay the process. The adjoining owner often contests aspects of the work and raises concerns regarding health and safety, as well as access and nuisance (e.g. rubbish and noise). The building owner can also be the cause of most delays, either because they revise their plans one too many times or because they violate the Act.
If any work has been done that could relate to a future party wall dispute, a house sale might be at risk unless the conveyancers for the buyer can see a party wall award that covers off works previously completed.
Resolving a Party Wall dispute hinges on the type of disagreement. If you and your neighbour are at odds over something that could easily be modified in your construction plans (like the design of a basement, for instance), you might manage to work something out and put it in writing without needing to involve surveyors. But if your neighbour seems hell-bent on not letting you build, you should definitely start the legal process: serve them with notice and get an experienced surveyor to draw up the plans for your project.
Consult your Party Wall Surveyor if you have any other unresolved issues that are likely to affect the works. A dispute over your proposed works with the adjoining owner does not mean it’s the end of the road. Remember, your Party Wall Surveyor makes his or her determination not only for you but also for the adjoining owner, and that determination is all about keeping the peace and minimising potential damage.
When you and your neighbour can come to an agreement on one Party Wall surveyor, you can appoint an Agreed Party Wall Surveyor. In some circumstances, however, if a Party Wall Notice and relevant follow-up letters go unanswered, each owner must then appoint their own surveyor for the job.
RICS’s industry guidelines suggest building surveys for properties that are large, very old, in some disrepair, or have unusual features. Building surveys are also recommended if you plan to do any significant renovations or extensions.
If you’re purchasing a relatively modern home that’s in decent shape and built to ordinary standards, then a Home Buyer Survey is an acceptable choice. If you want the assurance of an inspection and report that are pretty much guaranteed to turn up any issues that might be hidden or just hard to see, then you should go for a Full Building Survey instead.
The Full Building Survey is more detailed; it is more specifically tailored to the property your surveyor would be inspecting. It also comes with more advice on the visible defects found and on the potential hidden defects that they suspect may be present. Your surveyor will illustrate reports with photographs so that you can clearly see what has been discovered. Both the Home Buyer and Full Building Surveys describe the repairs needed, the order in which the repairs should be done, and the kind of “maintenance measures” that will be required to keep the property in good condition.
A HomeBuyer Report does include a market valuation as well as reinstatement costs. However, a Full Building Survey does not. The main reason for the differences in what is and isn’t included in the two types of reports is how focused the reports are on the condition of the property. The Full Building Survey is the most in-depth and comprehensive survey of a property that you can have done.
Yes. The legal document known as a “party wall award” delineates the proposed construction work, the manner and timing of its execution, and the fee arrangement for the surveyors whose services will be required. It possesses legal authority if the project is ever challenged in court.
Looking for a Chartered Surveyor? If you are buying a property, contact us for a building survey. Our panel of CIOB, RPSA and RICS surveyors will help you with the Level 2 or Level 3 property survey you need in Notting Hill. We can also assist you in Red Book Valuations, Party Wall Awards and other services. Reach out to us today for building surveyors, valuers and party wall surveyors in London!
