chimney stack and neighbour

pana37

just to clarify she removed her chimney breast without consulting or advising me 1st, the chimney stack is still there i need it removed while im having my roof done then after i can get my chimney breast removed at a later date.

Doozergirl

dander wrote: »

According to this page she should have obtained party wall approval from you before moving it.
http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/buildingcontrol/content.php?page=chimneystack

Mind you, I don't know what you can do about that. Maybe you need to talk to building control at your local council because if she hasn't gone through the proper procedures it's possible she hasn't got building regs either.

Firsty, there's nothing to be done about the party wall act, there's nothing enforceable after the work is finished - even if it were work in progress it's simply that work would have to stop until the agreement had been made. It's a very odd piece of legislation. If indeed the chimney breast in it's entirity acts as a party wall - I don't think it does though.

Secondly, it doesn't matter if she has building regs approval or not. It doesn't help the OP - if the work is over 12 months old the likelyhood of them doing anything at all is close to nil.

People have done some really odd stuff to my house that means I can't take out my chimney breast either without reinforcing my entire roof with RSJs! It's a right pain and it has scuppered my plans but it's one of those things. Sometimes other people get to things before you and you can't control that. If you were the first to do it, you'd have done what she did. Whether she mentioned it or not would you have realised the extent of the work required at the time?

EliteHeat

Doozergirl wrote: »

If you were the first to do it, you'd have done what she did.

Exactly, she didn't have to inform you and, not surprisingly, she didn't. I can't see how you've been wronged.

bryanb

pana37 wrote: »

the chimney stack is still there i need it removed while im having my roof done

It's hard to imagine how you "Need" to remove the stack, could you explain? Need to is not the same as would like to.

silvercar

Are you saying that her chimney stack is supported by gallow brackets, now that her chimney breast has been removed. Presumeably the gallow brackets rely on the weight created by the presence of your chimney breast to support the gallow brackets supporting her chimney stack?

So you have two options. Either remove your chimney stack and hers and your chimney breasts or provide some other way of supporting her gallow brackets, by RSJ?

I don't think you will be allowed to just remove your chimney breast and stack and tell her that her chimney stack is unsafe.

I would be tempted to contact the council for advice. If her structure doesn't meet building regs there is a chance that they may take action. If she didn't get regs approval then there is no evidence that her structure is safe. To add to the mix, the rules on the use of gallow brackets has changed in the last few years and they can now only be used to support narrow structures.

cherry76

I am going to have some works done in the house I have just bought. We found out that two chimney breasts have been removed and not supported. That was done done years ago in the 70's. Builder has been and told me to check on their neighbours what they have done on their chimneys. If they have removed theirs, I cannot remove mine and it has to be supported by steel beam. If the chimney breast has not been removed from my neighbour's side, then it will be supported by gallow brackets and steel beam but he needs to consult the BC officer to agree on this. On my part, I need to get consent from the neighbour's whose side of the wall will be involved. I was not aware of the party wall etc, may be your neighbour is not aware of the act, but I woud have thought her builder should have mentioned this to her. It is also polite to inform yor neighbour if you are having work done in your house. Like silver car said, I would phone BC for advice, they are very good and you can speak to your local building control surveyor for advice. They will tell you whether you will need to submit an application, I had to with mine and it involves removing a chimney breast and supporting another one. I hope you will find a solution to yours.