Latest blog posts

Here at Peter Barry, we serve hundreds of notices in any given year. Once a neighbour receives a notice they are a range of response options. Whilst to us as Chartered Surveyors these seem straight forward and obvious, we take plenty of phone calls that suggest that to the majority of people it is in fact not.This article will look to unravel ... Read more >>

The Party Wall Act leaves it up to the surveyors to agree which of the owners should pay their fees (which must be reasonable) - in all normal circumstances that will be the owner benefitting from the works but what happens if those works do not proceed?With the uncertainty that has plagued the economy over the last couple of years it has ... Read more >>

This post was inspired by a question posed recently by a homeowner who was concerned about the neighbour’s new basement excavation and whether or not it would undermine her property.She wanted to know what precautions could be taken to ensure that the neighbour would dig under the party wall only and stop as soon as they had enough room to ... Read more >>

It used to be common for party wall awards to include an obligation for the building owner to ‘maintain or cause contractor(s) to maintain adequate insurance against such risks and provide evidence of this upon demand by the adjoining owner’s surveyor contractor’ and this was generally interpreted as the relatively inexpensive Public ... Read more >>

I often tell adjoining owners that have suffered damage as a result of party wall work not to, under any circumstances, enter into discussions directly with their neighbours’ builder. By giving such advice, I’m not trying to make life difficult for building owners but rather making the point that under the Act it is the building owner rather ... Read more >>

It’s the phrase that party wall surveyors rely on to reassure adjoining owners that they will not incur costs as a result of their neighbours’ works i.e. “In all normal circumstances, the fees of all/any appointed surveyors will be paid by the building owner”. The inquisitive adjoining owner will ask for clarification of what ‘normal ... Read more >>

If badly handled, party wall procedures can add many thousands of pounds to the costs of your building project but there are plenty of things you (and your surveyor) can do to keep costs to a minimum. Speak to your neighbours before serving noticeThis isn't always possible, if the property is let or the adjoining freeholder is a ... Read more >>

As a recent graduate and Assistant Surveyor, a large part of my training was party wall related. As part of that training I spent time assisting the team that deal with new enquiries in sending fee proposals and liaising with owners. I thought it might be helpful to work through an example relating to a rear extension.When preparing a fee ... Read more >>

Being legal documents, party wall notices must be ‘served’ and the acceptable methods of service are set out is section 15 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.Service by HandSometimes our clients prefer to hand deliver their party wall notices as it gives them an opportunity to add a personal touch to the legal process.However, the Act ... Read more >>

I have previously written about the option of an adjoining owner applying for an injunction where their neighbour has commenced work covered by the Party Wall Act without serving notice. However, the costs of obtaining an injunction can be significant, may not be recoverable in full and such would only be justified where there is a real danger to ... Read more >>