Loft almost finished, but neighbour trying to make life difficult.

hamilton74

We have almost finished our loft conversion only decoration left. Initially we had an architect produce plans and building regs have been involved through out. Both neighbours were verbally informed a few weeks before works began and neither objected. Planning was not required as it came under a permitted development.

However a few days ago one of our neighbours (who has always been difficult with us) has knocked on the door to let us know that he will be getting a surveyor to act on both our behalf as a couple of his bricks have come loose on the adjoining third party wall. My builder who is very reputable inspected the wall and assured that it was very minor and would be more than happy to rectify the damage! Our neighbour is still insisting on getting a surveyor involved. I am worried that the neighbour will try to fleece us with the cost of the surveyor and also insist on using his own builders!
Am i liable to pay for the cost of his survey and do i have to use his builder. I am under the impression that third party wall survey cannot retrospectively be applied.

Could i risk being taken court and losing out on a lot of money, i am very worried as the neighbour in question is known to be an awkward person and enjoys making our lives miserable!

iamcornholio

If you have not already served notice under the Party Wall Act, then it can not apply and your neighbour can certainly not invoke it.

He can appoint his surveyor at this cost and try to recover costs via a civil claim, but you can refute that if need be.

If you have caused damage, then yes, you are obligated to rectify it. Your builders should do this and it would be deemed unreasonable for the neighbour not to allow your builders to do the work.

So in essence, you are not liable for his costs

vaio

I agree the time for a party wall order has passed but I don’t see how the OP can realistically resist the neighbour using his own builder rather than using the OPs who caused the damage in the first place.

Following on from that and given that some damage has been done it doesn’t seem that unreasonable for him to get a surveyor to make a full assessment of the damage and ensure that the visible damage is not the tip of an iceberg.

OP……. there are some ambulance chasing party wall surveyors about and if one of those gets his claws into your neighbour then you are going to end up with a four figure bill. I’d suggest a pre-emptive “friendly” chat to see if you can either talk him out of the surveyor idea and into just getting a builder (yours or an other) in to inspect and fix the damage or, if he is set on getting a surveyor, into getting a local independent one who won’t take the mick on fees.

hamilton74

Thanks for the advise, we are expecting a letter from his solicitor today.... Hopefully it will not be bad news! Not sure sure what powers he has and how much financial damage he can cause us.

hamilton74

Hi Guys,

I recieved a letter froim the neighbour informing me that he has appointed a surveyor to act for both parties. The surveyor has said that he will inspect the damage and produce a schedule of remedial Works to rectify any damage, he is also insisting that an award may still have to be published which will result in extra costs to me. If an award is published then i would be liable to pay all fees involved which he is qouting in access of £1000.00.

Does this sound fair?

Clive_Woody

hamilton74 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I recieved a letter froim the neighbour informing me that he has appointed a surveyor to act for both parties. The surveyor has said that he will inspect the damage and produce a schedule of remedial Works to rectify any damage, he is also insisting that an award may still have to be published which will result in extra costs to me. If an award is published then i would be liable to pay all fees involved which he is qouting in access of £1000.00.

Does this sound fair?

Do you have legal cover as part of your home insurance? If so I would suggest a call to them.

Also if your builder caused this damage then I would consider asking him to pay for the claim from his insurance policy.

martinthebandit

Clive_Woody wrote: »

Do you have legal cover as part of your home insurance? If so I would suggest a call to them.

Also if your builder caused this damage then I would consider asking him to pay for the claim from his insurance policy.

seems the right answer to me

Gloomendoom

How about offering the neighbour 500 quid to drop the whole party wall surveyor thing and let your builder repair any damage to his property.

dave82_2

As above surely this is exactly the sort of thing the builders liability insurance should cover. It isn't your fault the damage has been done or that the neigbour is chosing to persue the legal route to put things right. You are just stuck in the middle.

Can't really blame the neighbour for wanting to get it checked out properly though. Would advise against offering cash to make it go away especially if the neighbour already has solicitor involved.