Adjoining Owners

If you have been served with a notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, it means that your neighbour (the ‘Building Owner’), proposes to undertake, upon expiry of the notice, works which fall within the remit of the Act.  This could involve the building of a new wall at the line of junction, works to raise, lower or rebuild a shared party fence wall, or works affecting the party wall between your respective properties.  Notice may also be served if they intend to excavate their own land to facilitate foundation construction where this falls within a specified distance from your property; Section 6 of the Act sets out the distances which define notifiability.

Upon receiving a notice, you have 14 days to either ‘consent’ to the proposals or ‘dissent’ (with the exception of notices served under Section 1(5) where a formal response is not needed).  If you fail to respond within 14 days, this is known as ‘statutory dissent’.  Where dissent is communicated a ‘dispute’ is deemed to have arisen requiring determination in accordance with Section 10 of the Act. This involves either both parties appointing a single Agreed Surveyor, or each appointing their own Surveyor who will then prepare and serve upon the parties a Party Wall Award.

The Award should contain a detailed Schedule of Condition of your property prior to commencement of any ‘notifiable’ works in order to safeguard your interests in the event damage later occurs as a direct consequence of the works.  The Schedule of Condition will serve as legally binding evidence as to the pre-existing condition of your property, should there later be a dispute over damage caused as a result of the Building Owner undertaking the awarded works.

Following service, and assuming no appeal is made against the Award within 14 days of service, the Award becomes legally binding.  If you suspect the Building Owner is carrying out notifiable works without having served prior notice in accordance with the Act, you may halt the works by applying to court for an injunction until such time the Act is followed, although legal advice is recommended.