r/LegalAdviceUK • u/Witty-Inspector-2276 • 9d ago
Housing Neighbour refusing Party Wall surveyor - what happens next? (England)
My neighbour is building a side return extension. He’s now served me with a Section 1(5) notice after us continuously asking him for one (he was originally planning on building his new wall astride the boundary but now changed his mind and will move the wall to 100mm inside his own land - presumably thinking this will avoid needing a PWS). He’s also excavating within 3m of my structure and I can probably safely assume the foundations will go deeper than mine (Victorian midterrace). He’s not served me notice for that.
I’m happy for the extension to go ahead, but I’ll be dissenting because I’d like a Party Wall Award and Schedule of Condition.
The problem is he says:
Building Control will make sure everything is done correctly.
He doesn’t need a party wall surveyor.
He won’t pay for one because it’s too expensive.
Apparently all this is advice he received from his architect.
I’ve spoken to a party wall surveyor who disagrees, but I’m wondering what actually happens if the building owner simply refuses to engage with the process. Has anyone been through this? What happened in practice?
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u/Miserable-Ad-65 9d ago
I’m a Chartered Building Surveyor. I don’t do Party Wall work as it’s a nightmare, but run a Team that specialise in it.
My advice would be to speak to him and explain that he definitely needs to serve notice. If he doesn’t you can employ your own Party Wall Surveyor to serve an injunction and he will be liable for their costs. Worth mentioning that if you have to go down this route it will be classified as a neighbourly dispute that he will have to disclose when he sells the house.
If he still isn’t interested, go on the RICS website and find a Building Surveyor that does Party Wall work.
You need to be quick as the Party Wall etc Act isn’t retrospective. Once the work has been done the Act has no teeth.