What is a Party Wall?
A Party Wall separates the structures of 2 different owners. The wall may stand astride the boundary or be totally on one owner's land.
The Party Wall Act etc 1996 acknowledges two types of wall:
A Type A Party Wall forms part of a building and sits on the lands of separate owners, i.e the wall stands astride the boundary. Examples include walls separating terraced or semi-detached houses or a wall that forms the boundary in between 2 gardens, which is referred to as a 'party fence wall'.
A Type B Party Wall stands wholly on one owner's land, however is utilized by two (or more) owners to separate their buildings. An examples is where a neighbor has a structure, such as a garage, that butts up against a wall that is owned by the other neighbor. Only the part of the wall that does the separating is a Party Wall with the wall above or to the side not being a Party wall.
What is a Party Fence Wall?
A "party fence wall" is not part of a building. It stands astride the boundary line in between lands of various owners and is used to separate those lands. This would include a garden wall however, regardless of the name, excludes wooden fences, or fences with concrete posts.
What Works Come Under The Party Wall Act?
Notifiable works will fall in to among 3 categories.
1) Work which impacts a Party Wall;
2) Notice of Adjacent Excavation;
3) A New Wall at the Line of Junction.
Do I need a Party Wall Award?
A Party Wall Award provides defense to both the building owner and adjoining owners but it is questionable whether one is always needed.
Taking a look at it from both sides the benefits for each party may be summed up as follows:
Building Owner
- Ensures any damage that might strike the adjoining owner's property is clearly as a result of the building works carried out
- Provides for a right of gain access to under the Act to enter upon the adjoining owner's land to perform work
Neighbour/Adjoining Owner
- Sets out the hours during which the work may be carried out
- Provides for repairing any damage that results
- Ensures any specialist has adequate public liability insurance in place
Clearly most advantages lie with the adjoining owner nevertheless, the bottom line for the building owner is it protects against spurious claims for damage.
The point at which the advantages got from a party wall award do not surpass the expense of preparing one is arguable. Plainly little works such as re-pointing or damp evidence work, for which technically a party wall notice need to be served, are extremely not likely to trigger significant damage to a neighbor's home.
A crucial indicate keep in mind is that regardless whether an adjoining owner grant the work his redress under the Party Wall Act still stay. This is something that neighbors typically stop working to comprehend and for this reason hurry down the party wall dispute path.
Party Wall Notices
There are 3 kinds of notice that a Building Owner might be required to serve upon an adjoining owner in relation to works that fall within the scope of the Party Wall Act.
1. Party Structure Notice
2. Notice of Adjacent Excavation
3. Line of Junction Notice
Party Structure Notice
Section 3 of the Act covers Party Structure Notices, which cover works notifiable under Section 2( 2) (a) to (n). In general, the works are considerable modifications to the Party Wall itself and include work such as cutting in to the Party Wall for any purpose, e.g. inserting a damp course, removing a chimney-breast etc
. Some works on a party wall may be so minor that service of notice under the Act would be generally considered as not essential. Examples consist of drilling into the wall for dealings with and plastering.
The notice period needed is 2 months prior to the prepared beginning date. There is no main type for the Notice but it must include the following to be valid:
• Name and address of the building owner
• Nature and details of the proposed work
• Date on which the proposed work will start
The adjoining owner has 14 days to react prior to there is immediately deemed to be a Party Wall Dispute and obliged to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor.
Notice of Adjacent Excavation
Notices of Adjacent Excavation relate to works notifiable under section 6 of the Party Wall Act and there are 2 types:
• Excavation within a range of 3 meters of a building or structure of an adjoining owner where any part of the proposed excavation will encompass a click to visit website lower level than the level of the bottom of the foundations of the building or structure of the adjoining owner.
• Excavation within a distance of six meters of a building or structure of an adjoining owner where any part of the proposed excavation will meet a plane drawn downwards at an angle of 45 degrees from the bottom of the foundations of a building or structure of the adjoining owner.
The notice must consist of the very same details as a Party Structure Notice together with plans and sections showing the proposed excavation with a plan of the area of the brand-new learn more here building or structure.
The adjoining owner has 14 days to react before they are immediately deemed a Party Wall Dispute and obliged to select a Party Wall Surveyor.
Line of Junction Notice
A Line of Junction Notice is served under Section 1 of the Act and covers 2 kinds of work:
• The building of a new wall adjacent to a boundary.
• The construction of a brand-new wall astride a boundary.
The notice duration needed is 1 month prior to the designated start date for the building works. The notice must state the desire to construct and explain the designated wall.
If no reaction is received to a Section 1 notice, relating to the intent to construct a brand-new wall as much as the boundary, the work can commence when the notice period has actually ended. The Building Owner may place below the level of the land of the adjoining owner such predicting footings and foundations as are needed for the building of the wall.
An adjoining owner may prevent the building of a brand-new wall astride the boundary. If the adjoining owner does not react in composing within 14 days, the building owner will have to build the brand-new wall totally on his side of the boundary line. The Building Owner might place below the level of the land of the adjoining owner such predicting footings and foundations as are needed for the building of the wall.
Serving Notices
A Notice may be served in person or by post. If owner's name is not know the notice might be served on and dealt with to "The Owner" but must be provided personally or shown on the facilities.
For more information contact:
Evolution Engineers Ltd
77 Battalion Drive
Northampton NN4 6RX
Phone: 01604 665948
http://www.evolutionengineersltd.co.uk/