party wall and awkward neighbours

[rubbishtip]

our builder started work a week ago, at the weekend our neighbour decided that they wished us to follow the party wall act..
we had discussed our plans with our neighbour who had no issues and may i add didnt follow the party wall act with their own building work when they should have.
now our dilema is this, do we follow this piece of rubbish AKA the party wall act OR do we do as he did and play ignorance to it...
also are we right in thinking once the foundations are filled there is nothing that can be done with regards to the act?
AND finally if we dont follow the act and he gets a bee in his bonnet i take it he must contact a solicitor who will serve us with an injunction to stop our building works?

your thoughts/opinions and any experience in this matter are greatly appreciated

alex

 

[^woody^]

If it's just the foundations that would invoke the Act, then once complete no further action can be taken

If there are other works relevant the Act (eg the walls, building on the boundary etc) then you could be made to stop work and follow the Act.

If the neighbour applies for an injunction (from the Court and not just served by a Solicitor), then one will be granted if the Act applies to relevant work not currently complete.

Even if not, a Judge could (if so minded) grant a temporary stop order, to enable a report by a suitable surveyor on the works and relevance to the PW Act, and then the Judge will decide if the PW Act should still apply or not. You would need to engage a competent Solicitor to argue your case that no injunctions should be made.

You need to weigh up the likeliness of the neighbour pursuing it

 

[peca27]

Yep technically any works involved on the Party Wall are liable to the Act, ie. you should've served him with an agreement with appropiate notice etc + only started when it's signed off.

Not sure if the fact that he ignored the Act on his works historically has any legal bearing on what your doing, altho I doubt it.

Agree with Woody......speak to him + find out his likelyhood of forcing this issue. Try not going down the legal route, it'll cost you financially and mentally.

 

[Blagard]

if we dont follow the act and he gets a bee in his bonnet i take it he must contact a solicitor who will serve us with an injunction to stop our building works?

As noted by the others the solicitor has to get an injunction from the court. It could mean him waiting around all day to get to see a judge - very expensive!

Bottom line is, I think that in the main the PWA is toothless. If your neighbour wants to stop your work, albeit only temporarly, they have to be prepared to spend a fair bit of money, which they may or may not get back.

The act is not intended to stop the work, it is just a means of formalising what good neighbours should do anyway and offers means of resolving disputes (usually at the expense of the owner wanting to do the work). It also sets up a senario where if your neighbours do want to be awkward and are prepared to spend money, it could cost you for all those surveyor fees, and legal costs!

I think you would be wise to issue the notice (A simple DIY task using the example in the downloadable booklet) and give them a draft acceptance letter. If they decide to simply mess around for the sake of it then make up your own mind about how you want to proceed. - Although it does seem as if you have already done that!