Starting works without a Party Wall Award

[RetroFair]

Our neighbours in our adjoining semi detached house want to remove the chimney breast in one of their upstairs bedrooms and also extend out the back. They have planning permission for the extension but have never discussed their plans with us other than briefly to my DH whilst he was loading the car up for us to go away over Christmas. This is despite us being on generally pleasant terms... I am aware of the need for Party Wall Awards for both items of work and understand the timescales involved and the process but what happens if they just commence work? I understand that this will mean there will be no agreed baseline condition which leaves them exposed but is there any form of legal recourse? Thanks

They don't necessarily need a PWA for extending (depends on a number of factors) and for the chimney breast - is it on an adjoining wall?

Hi, yes the chimney breast is on an adjoining wall and the extension will be within 3m of our house foundations so my understanding is that both activities require notification under the Party Wall Act.

No, if the extension is within 3m of your property, the Act only applies if the new foundations are going to be deeper than your existing foundations - that's very unlikely in a standard semi detached house.

Theres a really helpful guide you can download from the Gov.uk website which explains it all.

We already have an extension on the back of our house (built by the previous owners) so there is a chance our neighbours extensions foundations could be lower than that given the different levels in our garden. What I really would like to understand is what recourse we would have if they attempted to start work without a Party Wall Awards being in place, is our only option to go to court and get an injunction?

Yes, that's why PWA is pretty toothless. Why don't you ask them direct when they are going to serve the party wall paperwork and see what they say?

I'm not sure they need a Party Wall award for chimney breast removal? Our neighbours have just signed the party walk agreement for our extension - it only cost us £30 😅.

Just ask them if they need you to sign the party wall agreement? They may have been advised otherwise.

@Huffahouse the removal of the chimney breast will affect the structural integrity of the party wall so I think it will need a Party Wall Award. With their extension it goes right up to the boundary so they will need access over our garden to build it. You'd think they'd want to be a bit more forthcoming about it all...

Party wall act is just something between the neighbours, any modern foundations would go deeper than any older house so they should serve a notice.
Anyway if they go ahead without there's no bad stuff really, all the same options for compensation apply, it's just the court would work out the costs rather than a friendly surveyor. So if your ceiling cracks you have recourse through the court, but they'll end up paying a lot more cost. Also they can't prove your ceiling was uncracked before.
The party wall notice is all that's needed, the award is just is there's a dispute or something. In our case we printed off the notices from online and have them to next door, they signed without even reading and just asked if we were getting rid of their side of the chimney at the same time!

It’s a breach of statutory duty to commence works without a PWA award in place. If they do it, you can get an injun the stop them. Make sure you get a schedule of condition of your prop so you can monitor if any damage is caused.

We removed chimneys from ours and had to give due notice of the works (a number of weeks in advance) in writing to the neighbours, and have them sign a party wall agreement. Essentially if any damage to your property is caused by their works then they are responsible for it

It's technically a legal requirement but as it's a civil case it becomes a matter between you and them, so you can take them to court.
I tend to tell clients that it is in their interest to do it all correctly (and I couldn't advise them otherwise) because it to a certain extent protects them from unwarranted claims by the neighbours as well as protecting the neighbours if their work damages their homes. It's good for both parties.
Serving the notices can be done for free and the government guidance is pretty good. I would point it out as a good thing for everyone and give them the link. Some people are just not aware of the legislation which is not a valid excuse for not complying but sometimes all that is needed is a gentle nudge.
Whatever happens I would make dated photographic records of the party wall prior to work commencing. Hopefully there will be no problems but it's always good to be prepared.