Can anyone help with a Party Wall Act question

[hansolosmum]

We are extending up to the boundary and know we need to serve a Party Wall notice to the neighbours. But we also know they are not just going to agree and will no doubt drag out the process as long as possible.

Does anyone know how far from the boundary line we need to build in order to not have to serve a notice? Would an inch do? I don't think the excavations are an issue, just building to the boundary.

Thanks

I don't know enough of the fine detail to advise you but be aware that we were at least 3ft from the boundary and our neighbour's kicked up a fuss regarding depth of excavation.

Hi mum!
You cannot excavate within 3m of a neighbouring building or structure (or 6m over a certain depth)
How far from the boundary is their nearest building?
If you build wholly on your land, but up against the boundary, you have to issue pwn.
Is the boundary absolutely clear?
Will your builders need access from their side (i.e. if you build up to 1" from boundary, will the builders need to be on your neighbour's land to finish the wall?)

without seeing the plans , its difficult to say, most of these building extensions go though on the nod ! it wont improve relations with your neighbour , but there isnt much they can really do about it PWA is (Civil Law) unless they are complete idiots , they will be fighting a battle they cant win

they will resent you extending , and doubt the Party wall act is your biggest issue
keep an eye on the times building starts and finishes , they will be on to the council complaining about that , or builders noise, trespass on their land

let them have their rant , and enjoy your extention ,

Thanks for the replies. We have been granted the planning permission which the neighbour campaigned against. So the party wall thing is all they have left to sting us with.

Although the foundations would be excavated within 3m of their house, they won't be deeper than their foundations or hit by the 45degree line. So I don't think that's an issue. But if we built right against the boundary that will fall under the Act.

The boundary is defined by the edge of our garage wall which is wholly on our property.

I'm just wondering if legally we'll be ok if the wall is slightly away from the boundary. Anything to avoid a further dispute!

Hi HSM! Having the same problems here. We have pp for double side extension to the boundary, so far so good. But the neighbours have no intention of letting us have temporary access to place scaffolding on their land. Spoke to our solicitor who said unfortunately we can't make them, as the work is for a new build and not maintainance of existing house! This is before issuing party wall notice which I know they're going to use as a stick to beat us with. Naively thought once we had pp that was it, it seems it's just the start of world war 3!!

Hello, Steve the Party Wall Surveyor here. As far as the 3m rule is concerned you will need to be certain you are not excavating deeper than next doors foundations - they are most likely the same depth as yours and if you have an older house modern footings are almost certainly going to be deeper. HanSoloMum, yes and 1" would do but you will almost certainly hit neighbourly problems getting the work done - is there a fence that needs removing for instance.

RR33 - your solicitor is right if you are not building in the line of junction but if you are then the access provisions in the Act can be used to erect a scaffold - your PW surveyor will help you with this.

The Act does have slightly blunt teeth but if you ignore it and your neighbours start seeking injunctions it can get very expensive very quickly. On the other hand if you have a party wall award and need to it then the cost and time savings can be huge. I sometimes call it a pre-nup for building works.

Importantly make sure you employ a decent, experienced and robust party wall surveyor and serve the notices in the required timescale. If you can avoid the expensive ambulance chasers which will have written to you when you put your PP in.

And - remember the Act is a permissive act- it is designed to let you do something not stop you. Your neighbours might not like it but you have a statutory right to do what you want to do.