Should my neighbour serve me a party wall notice

[Ian2016]

Hi,
I would like some advice on a party wall notice issue.

My neighbour has just started doing a side extension of his house. He is knocking down his garage at the side of his house and building a two story side extension. That means, once the work is finished, the external wall of his extension will be within two meters of my house. From what I read, if they need to dig a foundation within 3 meters of my house, then the Party Wall Act should apply and they have to give me a written notice at least a month before the work starts. They are now taking out the old foundation of the garage and probably will start digging in a few days to build the new foundation. I have received no notice from him yet.

When I spoke to his builder about the need for a Party Wall notice, the builder said his architect told him that they would not dig deeper than the foundation of my house, so even the digging is within 3 meters of my house, the Party Wall Act will not apply and they don't need to serve a notice to me and there is no need for a party wall surveyor to get involved. They also use a private Building Control firm, that means I don't have any information about how deep they are going to dig and I don't have any information about how deep the foundation of my own house is (as it is more than 50 years old) to do a comparison. The builder also said they are still doing the drawing so he didn't know how deep the foundation will eventually be.

I spoke to the local counsel's building control department, the person there doesn't seem to know a lot, he just said the Party Wall Act does apply if the digging is within 3 meters regardless how deep the foundation will be. I'm really confused.

I am not sure what to do at the moment. If the Party Wall Act applies, then obviously he is legally obliged to pay for an independent surveyor to act on my behalf to make sure his work doesn't cause any damages to my property.

I have the following questions:
1. In this situation, does the Party Wall Act appliy? Does he have to give me a written notice?

2. If they insist on that they are not going to dig deeper than my own foundation and that party wall act doesn't not apply, given that I don't have any information on my own house, nor will I know how deep their foundation will actually be to do comparison, will I have to take his words and do nothing? What's the best course of actions to protect myself so that in case anything goes wrong, I would some evidence to show his building work caused damages of my property.

Your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Ian

 

[Nakajo]

Really, I wouldn't worry about it. Take some photos of your wall (inside and outside), but it doesn't sound like these works are going to impact on your foundations.

 

[^woody^]

From your description, the Act does not apply and the builder /Architect are correct.

The PW Act gives you no more protection than you already have at common law. If the work causes damage to your property, then you are entitled to claim against those responsible.

I dont know why people worry about all this so much. If you have home insurance, then they will deal with it if necessary.

 

[noseall]

I dont know why people worry about all this so much.

 

[bernardgreen]

The full story here

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ght-months-pregnant-fiancee-early-labour.html

 

[^woody^]

A PW agreement is not some magical shield to protect against incompetent people.

Never hire a plumbing firm to do your building work, is the moral here.

And a warm bath is better for bringing on labour than knocking your house down.

 

[cjard]

"The trauma caused her early contractions and she had to be taken to hospital. The baby boy was born unharmed six weeks later"


Talk about adding insult to injury..

 

[tony1851]

Ian,
some interesting replies above.
To deal with any damage under common law can be very expensive.
The party wall act was introduced to resolve disputes between neighbours without the need for the courts, thus saving both owners lots in legal fees and freeing up the courts.
I'm a practicing party wall surveyor at http://mrpartywall.co.uk/
A section 6 notice needs to be served if excavating within 3 metres of an adjoining owners building and the new foundation will be going lower than your foundation.
As you have been advised the new foundation will not be going lower than yours, if it is really the case, no notice is required and the party wall act is not applicable, thus your options are limited.
It is common now for new foundations to go lower than foundations dug a while back, but is not always the case.
If you are on higher land than your neighbour, then there is a good chance your neighbours foundation will be deeper.
Speak to the senior building control officer at the council and ask for general advice, in your area and new foundations are generally deeper than foundations 70 years ago, this will give you a true idea of the local situation. If he says it is the case, ask for it in writing.
A professional should've advised your neighbour regarding the foundation, try to find out who it was.
You could be covered under their P.I. insurance if they are found negligent.
Take a look at planning online. On the planning application you should be able to find the architects details.
Ask him to what advise has been given and see if you can get it in writing.
Certainly take photos of your property.
You could ask an independent professional to do a proper schedule of condition - it would be at your expense but will cover you encase there is any future issue.
You could ask the court for an injunction to stop the works until notice is served but again it would be at your expense, I'd guess between 1.5-4k and you would need some evidence as to why you thought the new foundation would be deeper, this is a last resort. The cost of the injunction could be payable by the losing party but this is not always the case.
In your case, speak to building control and the architect, then speak with the neighbour.
record everything, then you are covered if common law is required in the future.

How would the PWA have helped in this case?

 

[^woody^]

To deal with any damage under common law can be very expensive.

And how does an AO deal with damages after the work when an Award is in place?

 

[^woody^]

And if the damage occurs months or years after the work is complete?

 

[^woody^]

And who pays for the surveyors time in dealing with this. When does the BO's liability end, or is he forever at risk of the whim of vexatious neighbour?

And why should someone bother with this [costly] ex-judicial route when a much more favourable route is available via the courts? Especially when it's less than £10k value, or when the insurer is picking up the tab and will aim to recoup costs.

Let alone the issues of whether the PW surveyors can act or not, and the fact that successors in title get no benefit from an award.

Rhetorical questions really, but the point is as I stated up the thread, there is no real benefit or protection from the Act, that is not already available at common law. The OP does not have to fret about whether notice is served or not as adequate remedies are available regardless.

Read the other recent thread about a BO being fleeced by seemingly vindictive neighbour and an incompetent or money motivated surveyor.

 

[DavidA1982]

I'm also about to give a party wall notice because we are extending within 3m of my neighbours garage. But my question is: if the work we do does damage my neighbours property, do I recover the costs of rectifying it from my builder?

 

[^woody^]

But my question is: if the work we do does damage my neighbours property, do I recover the costs of rectifying it from my builder

Why would it be the builder's fault?

 

[DavidA1982]

Fair question. There are suggestions in other threads that a competent builder would take measures to protect nearby houses anyway when digging foundations, so I took that to mean that failure to do so would be negligent. If not the builder, then does the engineer or the bco have any responsibility for ensuring the work safeguards the neighbours house?

Thanks.

 

[^woody^]

Claims and compensation are all about responsibility.

Lets suppose there was damage and a claim was made, not only would the claimant need to prove who caused the damage, but they would also need to prove that whoever caused it had a duty to the claimant, and that they were negligent. Its not easy to prove all three.

So would damage be caused by the designer for bad design, by the builder for bad work, by a subcontractor, because of a supplier, by the homeowner for employing bad builders or designers, or a bit from all of these?

Initially, the neighbour will claim from you as the building owner. Then its down to you to see if you can pass the buck, and its not easy.