RICS

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996

Solution-focused services for operations embraced by the Party Wall etc. Act

Despite its title, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is not solely concerned with party walls. It regulates the relationship between neighbouring property owners in the context of a number of specified types of construction work on, or in close proximity to, the boundary between two adjoining premises. This work will often involve a party wall, but in some cases it will not.

The purpose of the Act is to facilitate construction operations in the vicinity of boundaries, and it achieves this partly by providing a procedural framework that ensures neighbouring owners are notified of impending construction works.

Although sanctioned by the Act and subject to the service of formal notice, the building works must not be exercised in such a way as to cause ‘unnecessary’ inconvenience to adjoining owners or occupiers.

Adherence to the Act is a legal requirement for all developers, and our service is designed to make the process run as smoothly as possible. The process is, essentially, a two-step procedure: the first step involves the building owners serving Notices on the relevant adjoining owners, giving details of the proposed work that could potentially affect their property. Depending on the project, there can be a number of adjoining owners and, therefore, more than one Notice. Depending on the work, a number of different types of Notice may be required. Once the adjoining owners receive the Notice, they then have a choice to either consent to or dissent from the work. If they consent, the party wall process stops there. If they dissent, the second step is taken and, in these circumstances, the adjoining owners must each appoint a Surveyor. The two Surveyors would then agree a resolution to any of the problems that arise and the resulting document is called a Party Wall Award. As a practice, we have a great deal of experience in preparing Party Wall Awards having acted as Building Owners’ and Adjoining Owners’ Surveyor, as well as Agreed and Third Surveyor.

This is a complicated area and, as such, it is imperative that the documentation is correct and precisely follows the procedural framework laid down by the Act. As a practising member of both the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors and the Pyramus and Thisbe Club, James maintains contemporary knowledge of interpretations and processes of Party Wall matters.