With a pragmatic approach and the largest number of trained Party Wall surveyors in the city of Bath WBC are best placed to provide you with the best up to the minute advice regarding the Party Wall Etc. Act.
Please get in contact in the next seven days so we can discuss how to respond and any issues you have with your neighbours works, in most cases there will be no charge to you if we need to act on your behalf.
If you dissent the notice, you are legally obliged to appoint a surveyor. You only have a short timescale to respond otherwise the building owner may appoint a surveyor for you. Please contact us as soon as you receive notice from your neighbour.
We work for both the building owner or the adjoining owner as their appointed surveyor. This could be homeowners, business owners, developers, architects, planners or surveyors. We offer advice for small sites that are having extensions up to multi-million-pound sites that involve multiple neighbouring parties, Our previous clients include various local solicitors, small and large construction firms and developers such as Emerys of Bath, PG Group and Construction Total Solutions. Our expert knowledge and competitive fee structure make us the perfect solution for all types of client and project.
We also provide advice for designers and architects. If deemed suitable we can act as an agreed surveyor, acting impartially between neighbouring parties.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 came into force in 1997, it is the legal framework for dealing with construction that is carried on or near boundaries including shared walls or floors. This can also include works that are up to 6m from the boundary.
Although legally you can serve your own notices often people that do misinterpret the requirements of the Act and the legal notices are not worth the paper they are written on, invalidating any work carried out under them. It is also very difficult to get it right as most party wall surveyors require an in depth knowledge of case law and practice, as the Act in many ways leaves several areas open to interpretation.
If your neighbour dissents a notice or you dissent a neighbour’s notice legally surveyors need to be appointed to deal with the dispute.
You should consider getting advice from a party wall surveyor before planning permission is sought, although not a legal requirement the advice they can give regarding the complexities of access and construction near the boundary can result in alterations to the final planning design, which many architects might overlook. The actual appointment would happen should a dispute occur.
We can offer technical design advice to help reduce the impact on your neighbour and reduce any risks associated with the works. WBC will review your project plans with a site visit if needed and give general advice about the best strategy to use. We can serve party wall notices ensuring the required notices are in the right format and legally correct. We can draw up schedules of condition to ensure that any existing damage to your neighbour’s property is fully recorded, reducing your future liability.
An award is a legally binding agreement that two surveyors draw up facilitating the notifiable works and providing a number of conditions that the person carrying out the work must adhere to. We will liaise with other Party Wall Surveyors to agree and serve a Party Wall Award when a matter for dispute arises.
As an adjoining owner we can review the notice and supporting documentation and act on your behalf, commonly the costs involved with this service are paid for by the person carrying out the work unless the works relate to a repair of a shared wall etc.
We are qualified construction professionals; all our party wall surveyors carry out other construction functions such as building surveyors or architectural technology and therefore they provide an intrinsic value to their work. Often our competitors that have little construction background will end up costing you more money through additional surveyors fees due to their poor construction knowledge and subsequently poor advice.
To help ensure certainty of costs we aim to provide fixed price fees where possible. Our hourly rate for dealing with party wall matters is very competitively priced compared to many other local surveyors.
Our members include The Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, The Chartered Association of Building Engineers and the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists.
Sure we can, just phone 01225 789307 we offer a telephone-based no-obligation consultation before being formally instructed to act as your surveyor.
To obtain a quotation or to simply ask some advice, please contact us.
Quite simply yes, if your project is notifiable having planning permission will not grant you permission to construct your building under the Party Wall Etc. Act. Most projects require a party wall notice if they are carrying out even internal works on the party wall or if you are installing foundations within 3 metres of the neighbouring property.
The Party Wall Act is not affected by any requirement for Planning Permission or Building Regulation Approval. Similarly, having Planning Permission for Building Regulation Approval does not negate the need for compliance under the Party Wall Act. Even if your property has benefitted from Permitted Development Rights it will usually still require a party wall notice. If you proceed without one you can get yourself into legal hot water, risk receiving claims of damage and potentially holding up your works through injunctions.
Know Your limits – Knowing where the boundary lies between properties is very important, if you are unsure of the boundary condition we would recommend that this is established prior to gaining planning by a boundary dispute expert.
Be a good neighbour– Good relations with your neighbours is important, you can foster this by keeping in contact with your neighbour and consulting them on your plans, although your neighbour may feel that they need the protection of an award or schedule of condition and therefore good relations is not always a guarantee that they will not dissent a notice.
Plan before planning– Plan your project timescales and cycle to allow for the party wall process to take place once your detailed drawings have been drawn up.
Test it – It really helps if the foundation construction and depth are known before notices are served. This can often be carried out with a simple test pit and may result in you not having to serve notice at all.
We are happy to discuss any project at the planning stage and to comment on the legalities of the boundary condition. Our customers benefit from our unique approach and expert construction knowledge. Please call 01225 789307 or email enquiries@westernbuildingconsultants.co.uk.
