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The Party Wall Act places a legal duty upon any building owner proposing works under the Act to give a written notice to the adjoining owners.  This notice must be served at least one month (sometimes two months) prior to the date the work is due to start.  It is important to note that failure to serve a valid notice in time, where one is required, can cause a significant delay to works starting and could result in legal proceedings being brought against you. Remember Planning Permission and Building Regulation Consent is not enough.

 

Once you have served notice upon your neighbour they have 14 days in which to respond in writing.  If they disagree with the notice or do not respond to you within the 14 days then a difference is deemed to have arisen between the parties. This means that both you and your neighbour must appoint surveyors under section 10 of the Act.  You can either jointly agree upon an “agreed surveyor” or you can each appoint a different surveyor.

 

The surveyors will then prepare an Award.   An Award is a legal document which deals with the practicalities of the work including how the works will be executed, the method and timescales of the work and any other matter which may arise between the parties – for example structural calculations or a Method Statement if the work is particularly difficult.  Normally, a Schedule of Condition will be included within the report.  The Schedule of Condition records the current condition of the neighbouring property as a safeguard to both parties.  Then if any damage were to occur, the extent of that damage is easily quantifiable and in normal circumstances would be put right at the expense of the building owner.

 

Usually it is the building owners responsibility to pay (that is the party initiating the works) to pay all the costs associated with drawing up the Award including surveyor’s fees.  Where a difference has arisen and before surveyors produce an Award parties may agreed to settle any outstanding matters between them without the need for an Award to be in place.