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Party Wall Notices, Schedules and Awards from £400.
Bruce is a Party Wall Surveyor and is able to advise you
on the requirements of the 1996 Party Wall Act.
He is able to act as the Party Wall Surveyor for
Building Owners and Adjoining Owners or ideally act for
both as the Party Wall Agreed Surveyor.
His aim is to ensure that Building Owners can
expeditiously proceed with their lawful Building Works
and that the rights of the Adjoining Owners are
recognised and protected - this, after all, is what the
Party Wall Act is all about.
A Brief Overview of
the Party Wall Act - Bruce Spenser MSc LCGI
MCIOB
The Author
History and
Background
Common Law
Statutes
The term party wall
surveyor
Fees of the Party
Wall Surveyor
Selecting your Party
Wall Surveyor
Correct Legal
Procedures - Appointment of the Party Wall
Surveyor
The Adjoining owners
Schedule of
Conditions
The Award
Final Inspection and
Report
ENGLISH PARTY WALL
CASE LAW
A Brief Overview of the Party Wall Act - Bruce
Spenser MSc LCGI MCIOB
The Author - Bruce
Spenser is a Master of Science in Building
Surveying. His degree was awarded from the CIOB
and RICS accredited Masters programme of
Northumbria University.
History and Background- As London
evolved its present density terraced housing was
one method of increasing the dwellings per acre.
Terraced houses all shared a common wall which
came to be known as a party wall. The gardens on
these properties would also share a common
boundary and the separating fence or wall became
known as a party fence wall
Common Law- Under
common law there are rights which can be
exercised as long as the responsibilities
(reciprocal duties) owed are also exercised -
this can be thought of as a set of scales which
need to be balanced. The person who wishes to
exercise Party Wall rights is known as the
building owner and the the co-owners are known
as the adjoining owners. Under common law the
remedy to works which are carried out unlawfully
is damages - putting the adjoining owner in the
position they would have been prior to the
unlawful act - this is generally recompensed by
a financial payment, however positive or
negative court orders such as injunctions etc
can be made.
Statutes- Various statutes were enacted such as
the London Acts in order to regulate the
emerging needs of Party wall owners based on the
head of emerging party wall case law until in
1996 The Party Wall Act was enacted.
The term party wall surveyor is defined
in the Act as any person who is not a party to
the works. Your Party
Wall Surveyor should have a thorough knowledge
of law, construction and party wall procedures.
Your Party Wall Surveyor
should have a minimum of a BSc in Building
Surveying and be a member of the CIOB, RICS,
RIBA, ABE, ISE etc. They should also have in
place full professional indemnity insurance
where their party wall work is declared.
Fees of the Party Wall Suveyor-It is appropriate at this stage to look
to the fees of a party wall surveyor who is
qualified as the author considers. The author,
obviously deals with many other party wall
surveyors and considers the average fee for
works such as basement conversions, loft
extensions, inserting steels into party wall,
extensions alongside or on party fence walls,
adjacent excavations etc, where there is one
adjoining owner who is happy for the work to
proceed as long as his interests are protected
and based on the Party Wall Surveyor providing
the following professional services:
· Advice
· Site Visit
· Serving of
notices
· Schedule
of Conditions
· Award
Should be in the region of £1000 for the
Building Owner’s surveyor and £1450 for the Adjoining
Owner’s surveyor. However as in all industries there are
extremes and the buyer should beware!!!! The term,
"caveat emptor" comes to mind. The hourly charge of
surveyors swings between £300 and £100 at the extremes
and the average for the Adjoining Owner is £175 per hour
(research Spenser 2011) - the Building Owner's Surveyor will generally be lower
as they generally tender under market rates to secure
the work. There is one case law where the judge
determined that £160 per hour (2007) was not an unreasonable
fee. In Andrew Dust v Others (2005) the judge
stated,
“The complaint is that he made a three
course banquet out of what should have been a
snack and spent many more hours doing the work
than was reasonably necessary” and reduced the
fees accordingly.
Selecting your Party Wall Surveyor- The first
thing that should happen when you are
considering having any work carried out which is
subject to the Party Wall Act is for you to
contact a Party Wall Surveyor and get from them
an offer of professional services with prices
attached and try to pin them down to a fixed
fee. They should be able to advise you over the
phone and then send you, by email, their offer.
Compare the offer with other Party Wall
Surveyors and talk to your architect and
friends, neighbours and colleagues who have used
party wall surveyors - you should be looking for
experience, qualifications, professional
membership, professional indemnity insurance,
cost and an underlying ethical and moral code
which in the author’s experience can be had for
approximately £100 per hour - why pay more??
Correct Legal Procedures - Appointment of the Party Wall Surveyor- Your
chosen party wall surveyor should produce a
legal document of appointment. Once you have
correctly appointed your party wall surveyor he
should visit site and receive all documentation
etc. Your Party Wall Surveyor should then advise
you of the Party Wall Notices to be submitted
and the timescales involved. Your Party Wall
Surveyor should serve the Party Wall Notices
with a reassuring and professional covering
letter to all adjoining owners.
The Adjoining ownersthen have a
number of options, to do nothing, to agree to
your party wall surveyor as the agreed surveyor
or to appoint their own Party Wall Surveyor. If
they appoint their own party wall surveyor, or
if your party wall surveyor exercise the legal
option available to appoint a party wall
surveyor on their behalf, there will be two
party wall surveyors - these two party wall
surveyor should primarily check each other’s
credential and authority to act and then should
immediately agree a third surveyor.
Schedule of Conditions- Each
adjoining Owner’s buildings should be surveyed
and a professional and thorough schedule of
conditions should be produced by both Surveyors.
This ensures that there is a record of the
Adjoining Owner’s properties before the works
affecting the Party Walls
The Award- This legal document will be drawn up
and agreed by the two Surveyors which will
determine how the works will be carried out.
Final Inspection and Report- The
Surveyor (s) will carry out an inspection after
the completion of the works and make a report
which will include reference to the Building
Control Completion Certificate
ENGLISH PARTY WALL CASE LAW
The Party Wall Act came into being in
1996, however it stands on the shoulders of over
a hundred years of Party Wall case law and
statute. Some common case law is listed below:
·
Correct Method of appeal against
Party Wall Awards and decisions of Party Wall
Surveyors - Zissis v Lukomski & Carter (2006) -
Part 52 is the correct method of appeal
·
Noise, dust, dirt etc whilst
carrying out works subject to the Party Wall Act
- The reasonableness of such - Andrea v
Selfridge (1938) - Be reasonable - the author
thinks of the doctrine of the reasonable man
·
Serving of Notices, by whom and who they should be served upon, what should be in the
notice, when they notices should be served, time
limits, separation of the good from the bad of a
party wall Award, Validity of awards - this is
spelt out within the act and there is much case
law
·
Common law liability stands- Louis v
Sadiqi 1997 - If the act is not complied with
·
Duty to weather a party wall- Marchant V
Capital (1983) - after demolition and also
imposition of continual obligations- also
contained within the 1996 Party Wall Act
·
Obligation imposed by party wall awards- Mason v Fulham (1910) do not carry on after the sale of a property
·
The Jurisdiction of the party Wall Surveyors are covered in much case law - notably Stone V Hastie (1903)
·
Legal Costs Incurred-Reeves v Blake covers the legal costs incurred and the Party Wall
Surveyor’s ability or non ability to award or
adjudicate on them - very interesting this one
·
Compensation- Crowley v Rushmoore -
·
Usurping of common law rights by the
Party Wall Statute - Louis V Sadiq - LJ Evans
·
You
have the chance to comply and utilise the Party
Wall Act - if you choose not to you can not
expect the law to retrospectively support you- ROADRUNNER – LJ CHADWICK |
