Neighbour has removed chimney breasts without notice!

walshy252_2

Hi everyone

Hoping for some help here to what is quite a heated issue at the moment.

Today I noted serious drilling and banging to our party wall (semi detached house) which led to a large amount of debris and bricks falling in to our open fireplace. I knocked on the neighbours door and found two builders removing the chimney breasts in both downstairs and upstairs rooms. Alarmed I asked them why they were doing the work and the response was that they had been asked to remove them. On further questioning they confirmed that no building regulations approval had been made as they were not required. I was alarmed to look down the open chimney flue to see daylight coming in from my fireplace. I advised them that on my side of the wall one room had an open fire and one had a gas fireplace. They said there would be no issue as they would plaster and render the flue to ensure all gases and smoke would leave as normal. NOT CONVINCED, I rang Building Control at the council who made it clear that building regs were required and had not been approved. The advisor was so concerned about the potential gas safety impact that he sent an inspector around immediately to assess the situation.

The inspector demanded that work stop immediately due to the safety concern and lack of approval. He also advised us that the work will have caused damage to our flues which would need to be investigated further and that in the meantime we should not use either gas or open fireplace (lucky we are in the summer) for fear of smoke/carbon monoxide. He had to make a second demand for work to stop as the first was not heeded and then on leaving the builders continued and ignored our protest.

So there is an obvious breach of party wall act here, plus the potential for damages and repairs to property, but most concerning is the potential safety implications as these cowboys have just knocked out the chimney breasts and dont appear to have supported the stack at all. They had absolutely no interest in the potential safety issue despite debris falling down the flue in to the back our of gas fireplace.

We are intending to write to them tomorrow to outline our concerns and highlight the party wall breach. I'd really appreciate some advice and comments on the issue and where we should go next. I intend to call our home insurer for legal advice (cover included) though I am loath to inform them due to potential of impacting our buildings cover!

many thanks!

moneyistooshorttomention

Best to get onto your home insurers legal helpline asap imo (like first thing tomorrow morning).

You've done what you can to date by the sound of it and I'm wondering whether you might be best served by asking your legal helpline re the possibility of getting an injunction against the neighbours and that might do the trick of getting them to stop work on this.

Meanwhile - keep records/take photos/etc.

Davesnave

if you have a mortgage, you should also inform your lender, from whom more assistance might also be forthcoming, as they have an interest in the structural integrity of the building.

I_have_spoken

Sounds like the neighbours have got complete cowboys in :eek:

Do you know the neighbours to speak to or is a BTL?

You may need to ring around some 'no win, no fee' solicitors who can lodge a party wall injunction to begin with

Rosemary7391

Scratch not contacting the insurers - sounds like there is damage to your building. Worth considering claiming for it through them and letting them sort the neighbour out. With their approved tradesfolk, not your neighbour's ! TBH with something this important I'd probably get as many different folks involved as I could in the hope that one of them might make something stick...

George_Michael

I_have_spoken wrote: »

You may need to ring around some 'no win, no fee' solicitors who can lodge a party wall injunction to begin with

I wouldn't have thought that this is the sort of thing that would interest a NWNF solicitor as these normally get their fees out of any compensation or directly from the losing party.

If all they have to do is to write an injunction letter, there won't be any money coming their way from the neighbours so their work would need to be paid for by the OP.

I_have_spoken

>I wouldn't have thought that this is the sort of thing that would interest a NWNF solicitor <

Just check Google...

Annie1960

At the risk or repeating myself it really is high time the construction industry was regulated.

Will your neighbours respect thee Council's order to stop? You say you are going to write to the builders, but it is really the owners of the property you need to write to (or both if you really want to write to the builders).

As others have said, speak to your insurance company. You are entitled to a party wall agreement via a suitably qualified chartered surveyor, and your neighbour will have to pay your fee for this.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance

Aylesbury_Duck

Annie1960 wrote: »

At the risk or repeating myself it really is high time the construction industry was regulated.

Not really a risk, you just have.

George_Michael

I_have_spoken wrote: »

>I wouldn't have thought that this is the sort of thing that would interest a NWNF solicitor <

Just check Google...

Why should I check Google.
You brought the subject up so it's only fair to give you the chance to respond.
If a NWNF solicitor writes an injunction letter and the neighbour complies with that letter and stops the work, who is going to pay the solicitor for their work?

Phil_L_2

I would suggest that the best course of action is to contact the building control officer first thing Monday morning. From you post it would appear that a Prohibition Notice has been issued. If this is the case and it has been ignored the consequences will be severe for the builders.

A prosecution will help your compensation claim no end.