Articles

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (“the Act”) makes various provisions about costs, but in this article I am concentrating on those which relate to the professional fees charged by party wall surveyors and which are routinely included in awards Read More

  When should you seek an injunction in party wall cases? When should you advise your clients to seek an injunction? What is the best time to seek an injunction, how do you go about it, and, often most importantly, Read More

  Section 12(1) of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (“the Act”) provides that an adjoining owner “may serve a notice requiring the building owner before he begins any work in the exercise of the rights conferred by this Act Read More

Third surveyors, the impartial arbiters of the party wall world, rarely feature prominently in party wall litigation. However, there have been two recent County Court cases in which the selection and purported removal of third surveyors has been considered by Read More

Surveyors are often, and understandably, concerned as to how they can ensure that they are paid for the work they do as party wall surveyors. In this article I set out how they can use the law to assist them. Read More

Building owners carrying out notifiable party wall works, usually basement extensions, which cause damage to adjoining owner’s buildings, have been known to say “Terribly sorry old chap, but you will understand that I employed top-notch contractors, and the law says Read More

From time to time party wall surveyors will come across the situation where notifiable party wall works have been commenced by a building owner, either without a notice being served at all, or where a notice has been served, but Read More

The academic and legal years have come to a close. So what have we learnt about party walls over the last twelve months? (1) Special foundations are becoming rarer – the case of Chaturachinda v Fairholmedecided on 23rd September 2015 found Read More