Party wall disputes

With expert knowledge of the Party Wall Act, Easton Bevins party wall surveyors can help resolve party wall disputes or offer Party Wall Act expert witness services should these be required. 

The Party Wall etc Act 1996 was created to help prevent or resolve disagreements relating to work carried out on party walls, boundary walls, and excavations carried out near a neighbour’s building.

The Act is to everyone’s advantage, and in the majority of cases an agreement is reached without too much trouble. However this is not always the case, and when a dispute does occur, a party wall surveyor is required to help reach a fair outcome.

For expert advice and support relating to party wall disputes:

Call 0117 942 7876, email or complete
our enquiry form.

Party wall Dissent

If a neighbour dissents to a party wall notice that they have been served, they are in essence in dispute, and the Party Wall Act requires that a paty wall award be produced before the proposed works can proceed.

If you or your neighbour dissent to the party wall notice you can either:

i.) both agree to appoint one party wall surveyor to act for both parties to resolve the matter

or

ii.) each appoint your own party wall surveyor, i.e. have a separate party wall surveyor working for each party.

Party Wall Advice

What does a party wall surveyor do?

The appointed surveyor(s) will conduct an initial inspection of the affected properties to assess their condition and create a pre-works condition schedule. This is required as part of a party wall award to provide a record that can be referred back to in case of any damage during the works and serves to protect both parties.

The party wall surveyors will then work together to resolve the dispute by drafting a party wall agreement (party wall award), a legal document that governs certain aspects of the works such as timings, working hours and, potentially, detail of the works.

Once work commences regular site inspections are conducted to help ensure that all work is being carried out in accordance with the party wall agreement. This way should issues arise, they can be quickly dealt with. Once the work is complete, the surveyors will conduct a final inspection to check that there is no damage, and if there is, whether compensation should be paid.

Get professional advice before things escalate.

If you find yourself in a party wall dispute, you should act quickly and get professional advice.

Getting a professional involved can take the emotion out of a situation, which goes a long way towards helping reach a resolution. We also find that things can often be resolved quite quickly and easily by putting the right paperwork in place.

Party wall expert witness services

If things have progressed beyond this stage, and possibly gone seriously wrong, you may require an expert witness to advise and support you in court.

With in-depth knowledge of the Party Wall Act we are able to offer expert witness services to support our clients. Our expert surveyors often work closely with legal teams to produce CPR Part 35 compliant reports that are required for a court case. We can support you all the way from preparation of reports up to court appearances.

Fees for support with the Party Wall Act start from as little as £150, so it really does make sense to do things properly from the start. We also offer 30 minutes free advice (by phone) under the RICS advice scheme for domestic situations.

Please contact Mike Bull,or Richard Sherwood for further information on how we can assist you.

For expert advice and support on all party wall matters:

Call 0117 942 7876, email or complete
our enquiry form.

Get in touch

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