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As the adjoining owner you are unlikely to directly benefit from your neighbour’s works; in fact, for a short period of time, you may experience some disruption to your daily life and it is possible that your home may suffer from damage as a result of the works.  Consequently when you receive notice under the 1996 Act from the building owner you should carefully consider how best to safeguard your home and your rights during the progress of the works.  We would ALWAYS recommend that a surveyor is appointed to help safeguard your interests.

 

Once you receive written notice from the building owner you only have fourteen days in which to respond in writing.  If you have already selected a surveyor to act for you then you should pass the notice to your surveyor so that he can check the notice and respond on your behalf.  Your surveyor may then advise you of the most suitable response and write to the building owner on your behalf.  If you have not appointed a surveyor then you usually have three main options available to you, which are detailed below.

 

1. Consent to the notice - This option allows the building owner to get on with his works with no further action required from either party.  In this case surveyors are not appointed under the Party Wall Act and your neighbour will not incur any further cost.

 

2. Dissent from the notice - This option means that a difference arises between the parties and requires both parties to appoint a surveyor.  This person may be the same 'agreed surveyor' or two different surveyors.  In most cases the surveyor(s) will examine the proposed plans, check the engineer's calculations, and make an initial assessment of likely impact of the works.  The surveyor(s) will then usually prepare a Schedule of Condition of the adjoining owners’ property before works start.  Before the work begins the surveyor(s) will produce a detailed legal document called an Award.  The Award extends specific protections and rights to both parties, which are determined on an individual basis.  During the progress of works the surveyor(s) will generally return to both premises to check works are being conducted in accordance with the terms of the Award.  Finally the surveyor(s) will return after the completion of works to check that there has been no damage to the adjoining owner's property.