building regulations

[kronas]

im quite stuck on this one so any help would be appreciated :)

my family wants to build an extension to the house, the problem is they want to replace part of the wall which seperates mine and the neighbours garden, the only encroachment to his land would be when work takes places, ie the replacement of part of the wall, we have stressed that any damage caused by us, or the builders, would be repaired, but hes just being arsey, so he wont give us permission to do so..

here is what we want to do:

erect a single storey kitchen extension new wall built along the line of junction is proposed to be a standard cavity wall.

external brick leaf to be built off existing party structure after removing and re bedding top course of brickwork. internal leaf of load bearing blocks to be built off a new steal beam.

the method of construction along the line of junction has been proposed to minimse the level of access required to his land, mitigate the requirement of deep footings below the party wall and to prevent the undermining of the foundations.


he wont let us do this, we have sent the notice which states the above and have tried to have a word, but to no avail so now we he wants plans to be drawn up, building regulations plans and to have a look at them, which means we also have to appoint a surveyor and so has he, this also means the costs are starting to spiral, my parents have to pay for:

building regulations plans
our surveyor
his surveyor

so my question is what do we do ? if we go ahead could we still build, bloody party wall act :mad:

[MovedGoalPosts]

If you go ahead without complying with the Party Wall Act, you end up in court, pronto. It's a no brainer.

The Party Wall Act was actually brought in precisely to deal with these sorts of issues in a simple manner. Yes there is a cost, but without the Act, if your neighbour said not, you had no ability to do a thing.

If you have served a valid notice under the Act, and the adjoining owner hasn''t consented within 14 days, you have no choice but to move to teh dissent procedures of the Act and appoint surveyors.

You do not have to each appoint your own surveyor. You can agree on a joint surveyor. The surveyor acts independently of the persons appointing them, and follows the provisions of the Party Wall Act.

As for drawing up plans and stuff, you are going to need building regulations approval (separate to the party wall act). If your house has previously been extended, or your extension is large, you may also need planning consent. Talk to your local council they should be able to advise. There are many good designers who can do these drawings at a sensible price. You don't need an Architect. If you don't get these necessary consents the council may take enforcement action. You'd certainly have trouble selling.

---------- Post added at 18:45 ---------- Previous post was at 18:41 ----------

This link may help http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1131402

[kronas]

i see your point rob c, i was kind of hoping that even if after the surveying we would be able to go ahead, he might back off, we cant really afford to have a long drawn out battle, with the extension its not our own money the bank is the funds supplier, however the fees currently being paid are from our pockets, which are not deep :(

the person who is our agent does not envisage a problem with building regulations, as the first plan which was the initial drawing has been approved.

any more advice ? anyone ?

[MovedGoalPosts]

The whole point is that the Party Wall Act stops this being a drawn out thing. It sounds like a straight forward job for the Party Wall Surveyor(s).

Receive plans and notices, and review same.
Visit site, and agree (record) a Schedule of Condition of those parts of the Adjoining Owners property that might be affected by the works if something were to go awry. (that doesn't mean its a complete survey of the whole house.
Draw up party ward, agree same with other surveyor, which spells out the legal rights and duties of both owners (this is usually a standard document tweaked for any specific job), publish same.
Allow one, maybe two site visits during and at end of job to see there are no issues.

Surveyor, spread over the weeks of the job should spend less than a day on it if he (she) is the Building Owner's Surveyor, and even less time if they are Adjoining Owner's. Of course if you can agree on one surveyor, then that person migh spend just over a day's time, but that represents a good saving in total.

Remember Surveyor doesn't as far as the Party Wall Act goes, mean Chartered. It just means someone competent to perfomr the duties of the act. That migh be your current designer? It just can't be the Building Owner themselves.

[kronas]

what would happen at the end of the survey ? hes going to say no, so we just end it here ?

[Chris]

what would happen at the end of the survey ? hes going to say no, so we just end it here ?

You need to read the info Rob linked to, in particular this page:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1131406#P81_5122

Your neighbour does not have the right to prevent you doing the work. If you go through the procedures outlined in the Act, you can serve notice on him that you are going to do the work and he has no right to stop you. You have to give two months' notice. He can agree to let work take place sooner than that if he wants.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Ah no he can't just say no. The Party Wall Surveyor(s) decide what can and cannot be done, according to the rights granted to both owners according to the Act. Essentially you will be allowed to build something, the Surveyors might decide there is a better way than your current proposal, but the act allows you to raise walls, repair walls, and even place certain types of foundations accross a boundary line.

The Party Wall Award is a legally binding document on both owners. It can be challenged in court, if an owner acts very promptly after the award is published, but once the award exists both parties can rely on it's contents and enforce that as necessary. Realistically, once surveyors are appointed, they work out the details and whilst an owner might give a surveyor a hard time, they usually toe the line at that point accepting the advice they are being given.

[Chris]

I like the part of the act that says your brickies are allowed to force entry to your neighbour's house, where necessary, if he is being unco-operative. :D (when accompanied by the boys in blue, of course).

[kronas]

lol at the mixup and brickies bit :D

well we were going to suggest building within the boundary, but our agent says you still need notice...

[MovedGoalPosts]

Yep there's the 3 metre rule to contend with. Basically to do width excavating that runs a risk of undermining the neighbours foundations.

You might well have to build up to the boundary line, if there is no wall there at the moment, rather than straddle the boundary as a true party wall. It all depends.

---------- Post added at 19:45 ---------- Previous post was at 19:39 ----------

The Party Wall Act in it's current form dates from 1996. However it was used very successfully in the London Area and is based on the tried and tested London Building Acts (Amendment ) Act 1939 which worked so succesfully that for once, Government got it right and extended it to the whole of England.

Without the Act you really would be stumped, relying on common law. With the act you can do your work, without it with your neighbour objecting, you would have been unable to. Yes there is a cost, but it's a small price compared to drawn out wrangling with an unco-operative neighbour.

[SMG]

I had a similar situation, the council sent me a copy of the party wall act. It tells you everything.

[kronas]

we have decided to comply with his request of a drawing of building regulations, also, our agent has also agreed to be our surveyor, he (the nieghbour) has simply chosen to appoint his own.

*prepares for a minefield

:eek:

[Escapee]

My parents managed to stop the next door neighbour from entering their property to build another garage. The neighbour threatened the party wall act but was not covered because he was building the garage inside his own property and it was not part of the boundary, the planning department got involved and they told him to simply build it far enough into his own propert to enable him to build and service it.

It probably looks like my parents were being awkward, but there was a long outstanding dispute with this neighbour who happened to be a cowboy builder. He had built another garage right up against the boundary fence when my parents first bought the property, he placed a window right opposite my parents main door (which is at the side of the house)
He then bricked it up from inside because it wasn't on the plans.
He then rented the garage out to a policeman, my parents asked the council if they could do the same and they said no because their garage was not connected to the house. They pointed out the neighbours was not either, the council then tried to stop him using it as a dwelling so be built a conservatory to link it to the house.:D

As he was a bit of a cowboy builder the side window (bricked up inside) had a gap at the top, I used to go out late at night when it was raining with the hose pipe and fill it up. His lodger didn't stay long because of the serious damp problems the builder could never cure!;)



My parents neighbour on the other side had a brick built garage that formed part of the party wall. My parents simply built their garage 2 foot inside their boundary so they could build and service it without problems. They get on well with the neighbour that side, but you never know who will live there in the future.