The UK Party Wall Act of 1996 was enacted to avoid and solve disputes between neighbors who share a standard boundary. It defines the rights of owner's of buildings as regards any building, alteration, renovation or repair work to boundaries and walls between adjacent properties.
Most Commonly Used Rights
The most popular rights by building owner's are the following:
Adjacent excavation and construction
Construction of new party and boundary walls
Cutting into walls to take beam bearings or to insert damp proofing
Demolish and rebuild a standard boundary
Increase the height of a wall
Increase the thickness of a wall
Underpin the party wall
Your Duties Under the Act
If you plan to carry out any work to common boundaries, you must give notice to all or any adjoining home owners. You cannot cut into your side of the party wall without informing your neighbors of one's intentions. The act does not provide for any specific enforcement procedures but if you fail to serve notice, you risk being served with a court injunction or your neighbor(s) may seek some other legal redress.
Your neighbors cannot stop you from exercising your rights under the Party Wall Act however they have a say in when and how the work is undertaken. The act also expressly states that you may not cause unnecessary inconvenience to your neighbors. Inconvenience in cases like this specifically refers to any additional nuisance in addition to that which would predictably occur once the work is completed in the correct manner.
Owners of adjoining properties should take notice that the main reason for the Party Wall Act would be to facilitate development and is not meant to be considered a hindrance. In case you fail to respond to a notice given beneath the act, the developer/building owner may appoint a surveyor on your behalf and the dispute resolution process will proceed without your consent.
Appointing a celebration Wall Surveyor
In the event an agreement cannot be reached between adjoining home owners, the legal requirement would be to appoint a celebration Wall Surveyor. Surveyors are legally mandated to act impartially; they should not favor the appointing owner. The house owners could also appoint a surveyor each to allow them to arrived at an agreement on their behalf. However, this is a more costly and time-consuming option. In the former case, the dog owner intending to undertake work pays the surveyors fees including fees reasonably incurred by his neighbor(s).
When choosing surveyor, one should be careful to appoint a specialist with a track record of surveys of the nature. https://westmidlandssurveyor.co.uk/best-party-wall-surveys-west-midlands/ is due to that is a highly specialized field with serious legal implications in the case one or omission is committed.
If you are planning some work and your neighbor has didn't respond to your notice or you're currently involved with a dispute, call AA Projects and obtain help from first class Party Wall Act surveyors.