Adjoining Owner

Generally speaking, the Building Owner pays the costs of the work and all the surveyors' fees. However, there are provisions for certain costs to be borne by the Adjoining Owner as well, such as:

Where a new party fence wall is built, then generally the costs are shared between the Owners equally, otherwise the Building Owner builds the wall in his own land and it is their wall, the Adjoining Owner having no rights in it.

If the Adjoining Owner has already raised the party wall and the Building Owner now wishes to enclose on it, they must pay the Adjoining Owner a proportion of the present cost of building the wall.

Where a party structure has to be rebuilt because of a lack of maintenance, the costs are usually shared equally.

The Building Owner can place mass concrete foundations in the adjoining land without compensating the Adjoining Owner but not reinforced concrete foundations.

The Building Owner must pay the Adjoining Owner for any losses or damage caused by their exercise of their rights under the Act. Just being next to a building site does not count, but if the works materially affected the Adjoining Owner's business, they might well have a justified claim. Any physical damage done to the adjoining property must either be made good by the Building Owner or they must pay a proper sum to the Adjoining Owner to allow them to have the damage made good.

Although they can do nothing it is generally much better for all if they respond to the Notice (either directly or by seeking advice from a Party Wall surveyor first). They can consent to the work and that can be the end of the matter, with work able to then progress. Or they can dissent to the work and appoint either an agreed or separate surveyors to prepare a Party Wall Award. Either way, both parties should keep the documentation and file it safely. If you have received a Notice and would like to discuss your options/ further information to that provided here, please don't hesitate to contact us.

If the adjoining owner does nothing for fourteen days following receipt of a Notice, then in the case of Party Structure Notices and Notices of Adjacent Excavation (also referred to as Three Metre/Six Metre Notices) it automatically is deemed as dissent from the Notice. The parties will then need to appoint a surveyor/ surveyors to prepare an Award.

This, unfortunately, can be a very common problem and unfortunately the Act does not provide provision for you to take action. You can seek an injunction from the court to have the work stopped, however, it may be considered advisable seek specialist legal advice first to ensure it is the correct approach.

The Building Owner can only cause the Adjoining Owner and/or occupier, reasonable disturbance. They must not cause unnecessary inconvenience. The level of notice/ disturbance will therefore vary from case to case, with varying layout and proposed works.

Where the Building Owner's activities cause a direct and measurable loss to the Adjoining Owner or Occupier, then they would be liable to compensate them in money. The inconvenience of having a building site next door does not in itself generally count but if the activities on the site were to mean, for example, that a shop had to close during the works, then that would be claimable from the Building Owner.

The Building Owner is still bound by normal health and safety and environmental protection legislation. The Act does not relieve him from the ordinary duty to keep noise and vibration within defined limits or to work within specified hours.

Only if they do not comply with the Act's provisions. If they have satisfied the Act's requirements then they have rights to do work from your land that cannot reasonably or safely be done any other way.