neighbours loft extention help

marie1658

hi new to this and this is all making sick with worry.My neighbour told us he was having a loft extention he said he did not need a party wall act as it would not interfere with us we were fine with this nothing in writing tho.The extention is up and finished but on going into our loft the supporting beam/joist has been knocked through, the rubble is in my loft and joist/beam is flush with my side all exposed .We spoke to a builder who did not view it and he said it can be plastered over and forget it we thought this was more serious than just doing that as we already have stress fractures in remaining wall.We spoke to neighbour about it he reckons he did not know it was through our side (we don't believe that at all) and he asked us to keep him in the loop I have since spoken to building inspector who has also not looked at it and he said he would ring next door to tell him his builder needs to put it right the building regs inspector rang me and said he had rang neighbour and it was agreed he would get his builder back I questioned building regs inspector as if we ever wanted to build loft extention where could my beam go he said it could be welded together(im no builder but my beam would have no support.)anyway our neighbour has not even been in to discuss anything about getting this sorted this was 3 weeks ago .We have had the surveyor who drew up his plans here to look at it and he stated its not right he will write him a letter as joist/beam needs cutting back we are awaiting a copy of the letter he is sending and im dreading the fireworks starting are we making a fuss over nothing please can we have your opinions

macman

What made your neighbour think that he could put an RSJ through the party wall without serving a PWN?

Gordon_Hose

The neighbour may not have had any knowledge of the issue.

I suspect the builder has fed the neighbour a load of BS about not needing a PWA and hoped that nobody would ever find out and save him the hassle of having to wait around while it was sorted out.

jc808

letter before action

stop !!!!! footing around, imo

i mean this nicely

teneighty

Time to get legal.


The fact that he has breached the Party Wall Act is not such an issue in itself as it has no retrospective powers but the courts take a very dim view of owners who blatantly ignore the law. He will be toast if he lets it get that far.


The beam insertion has committed a trespass and will have to be cut back to his half of the wall. Very difficult and very expensive, serves him right. Not forgetting all damage to be made good on your side, all your legal/surveyor costs reimbursed and probably something for all the time and inconvenience.


Good Luck

McKneff

And stop worrying and fretting, you, my friend have done nothing wrong....

marie1658

Thank you all for your advice im still fretting tho lol.
1 more question not relevant but are we correct in thinking that after 9 years trespass cannot be enforced

marie1658

Just an update .....
well had my neighbours surveyors letter was very brief but told neighbour the floor steel had been taken right through the full width of the party wall dislodging brickwork,its not structural but steel needs to be cut back to his half and all made good to retain fire resistance.Well lets say good job I have a strong front door my neighbour was ranting and raging and quite honestly scared me to bits we told him we were concerned about the issue (he knew that anyways)he maintains that because its a shared party wall he can do what hes done and come through flush with our wall and the surveyor doesn't know what hes talking about,,,he does agree he has to pay for repair but is disputing the steel needs to be cut back I explained I would get a 2nd opinion anyway.I spoke today with his surveyor he said he was not aware of the shared wall excuse before and is looking into it ....should I get a 2nd opinion ....

macman

Your neighbour is an idiot, and his builder is incompetent. Since both the RSJ and the party wall are structural, I fail to see how the damage cannot itself be potentially structural if masonry has been dislodged and obviously not made good, since he had no access to your side.
If he thinks 'you can do what you want' to a party wall, I suggest you ask him if it's OK if you knock a hole through the party wall at ground floor level: it'll come in handy to pass him future solicitor's letters.

marie1658

Oh macman your last sentence made me laugh .....However the surveyor not the builder said it was not structural I wish I could post a pic for you to see

macman

The RSJ may be soundly held in place but the surrounding masonry damaged-still needs making good, but not dangerous.
Upload the pic to a photo-hosting site and post the link.