Careful with that party wall injunction
The Party Wall Act 1996 grants a building owner wishing to undertake building works a number of rights including a right to build on the line of junction, raise, repair and otherwise work upon a party wall or party structure and to excavate near neighbouring property.
In order to exercise those rights, a building owner must serve a party wall notice to affected neighbours, and give the neighbour an opportunity to consent to the work or otherwise to have a party wall agreement, known as an award put in place.
If a building owner starts work without serving the required notices, the affected neighbour may seek an injunction preventing works from progressing until the procedures required by the party wall act are correctly concluded. For more information on serving a party wall notice, take a look at our party wall FAQs.
Boundary wall disputes
Our party wall surveyors in London were asked to advise a building owner who had received an injunction and been forced to stop his work. In this case, the work involved the demolition and reconstruction of a wall adjacent to a boundary. Before starting work, they verified with us that no notice was necessary and progressed.
The neighbouring owner was adamant that a notice should have been served, and so proceeded to apply personally to the court for an injunction which was granted. It later transpired that they had done this without taking professional advice. The building owner challenged that injunction and, with our assistance in court, was successful in demonstrating that the provisions of the Act did not apply. At the final court hearing, the adjoining owner quickly conceded the issue having eventually taken their own advice from an experienced party wall surveyor.
The outcome, although pleasing to the building owner, was bad for the neighbour. Having accepted and conceded that the Party Wall Act did not apply, the injunction was immediately withdrawn and they became liable for all of the building owners legal costs, losses and damages. These included the delay costs to the project and the abortive costs of the contractor laying off his workers – the total coming to a significant five-figure sum.
These were not wealthy professional developers and property companies, but ordinary residential neighbours. It was quite clear that the neighbour was somewhat shocked by the outcome, clearly never having anticipated such substantial sums could be awarded (and enforced) against them.
All of this could have been avoided if compliance was followed. For more information on best practice, take a look at our building on the boundary wall FAQs.
Boundary walls between neighbours: Key takeaways
This reinforces the importance of checking with a party wall surveyor before taking action. Then, if an injunction seems appropriate, liaising with a lawyer and taking their advice is highly recommended before taking injunctive action personally. Had the neighbour made a 10-minute phone call to each of these experts first, they would have understood that the injunction was likely to eventually fail, and that to progress would be an expensive folly.
We cannot stress enough the importance of checking with and engaging appropriate professionals to advise you and to apply for injunctions. Mistakes can be costly.
Avoid boundary wall disputes with the help of Collier Stevens
If you’re in need of party wall advice, our expert surveyors in Kent and London are here to help.
For more information on our party wall services, get in touch with us today.
Steven Way
Steven Way BSc MIHEEM MFPWS MRICS is the Practice Principal and is a Chartered Building Surveyor. With over 35 years as a practicing surveyor, Steve has a wealth of experience and expertise in both residential and commercial building surveying, party wall advice and disabled access auditing. He has also built his reputation as an expert witness.