More than half of the party wall thickness built in adjoining land.

teneighty

carmijoon wrote: »

The party wall agreement states "The party wall shall be positioned so that no more than half its thickness shall extend across the boundary line."

However, in our case the party wall thickens that our neighbor built has exceed around 3cm in my land. That means about 18 of its thickness is on my land and around 12 cm on the neighbor's land.
He started the wall from the right spot and is in middle of the boundary, but the end part of the wall finished 3-4cm more into my land.

I talked to him about it and few days later he emailed that the wall has been built as we agreed and he will not do anything about it. The party-wall surveyor said 3cm is not much so is better to ignore it.

I would probably let them go if he simply apologised, but the way he responded now I would like to know what I can do about it.

I will appreciate any advice.

Thank you all.

It looks like your Party Wall Surveyor has dropped a clanger on this one.

It is quite common for a new separating/party wall to be 300mm thick and should have been designed so that the boundary runs down the middle. I assume the houses are attached therefore it should be very easy to establish the centre line of the existing party wall and follow that through to the extension. This should have been documented in the party wall award.

I assume you agreed to a new party wall being built as you intend to extend and use the wall yourself?

If your Party Wall Surveyor cannot resolve this to your satisfaction you could make a complaint against him personally.

carmijoon

teneighty wrote: »

It looks like your Party Wall Surveyor has dropped a clanger on this one.

It is quite common for a new separating/party wall to be 300mm thick and should have been designed so that the boundary runs down the middle. I assume the houses are attached therefore it should be very easy to establish the centre line of the existing party wall and follow that through to the extension. This should have been documented in the party wall award.

I assume you agreed to a new party wall being built as you intend to extend and use the wall yourself?

If your Party Wall Surveyor cannot resolve this to your satisfaction you could make a complaint against him personally.

Thank you for your reply.
This is exactly what exactly happened, we had the line and the wall supposed to be in the middle. 150mm on my land and 150mm on his land. However the final wall is 110-120mm on his land and 180mm-190mm on my land. We divided our boundary line with kerbs. So it is so obvious the wall is not right. The survivor said this will be now a civil matter and he cannot help.

Some people here started to judge that how treble neighbour I am or I do have nothing to do in my life. But what they don't see is how much stress this neighbour already caused by starting his work without even serving us any notice. And more the attitude of I do whatever I want was more pushing me to see what options do I have.

Thanks again

TELLIT01

What do you think you can do if the neighbour refuses to apologise? Stop wasting your time and effort worrying about something which has happened and cannot be changed. Take it to court and there will be wranglings which could last for years whilst the solicitors get rich.

carmijoon

Doozergirl wrote: »

For 3cm? And now it isn't the 3cm, it's even more trivial; it's expecting an apology for the 3cm.

I'm going to be frank. You need to give your head a wobble.

How often do you find yourself in conflict with people? Life isn't good if you're looking for reasons to fall out with people.

People are going to get annoyed at your presumption that you need an apology for it. You have no proof and cannot produce the proof that it is 3cm in any direction.

Forget about it. Try and get on with people!

I don't want to be off the topic, but please don't judge people based on the limited information you have about them.

I have a good neighbourly relationship with everyone on the street. to give you little background, this guy started his building work without even serving us any notice. So one day I came back from work and saw he started the home extension project. When I asked what is going on he replied he doesn't need to let us know. Would you just ignore it if your neighbour does that? So I asked a surveyor to get involve. It took a month as he was ignoring all messages from the surveyor. Then after we agreed for a party wall, we draw a line. We went on holiday and when I come back he basically build 11-12cm on his land and 18-19cm on my land. And said it is what it is. Again how would you feel if someone says that to you?
So please don't judge people before knowing the full story.

carmijoon

TELLIT01 wrote: »

What do you think you can do if the neighbour refuses to apologise? Stop wasting your time and effort worrying about something which has happened and cannot be changed. Take it to court and there will be wranglings which could last for years whilst the solicitors get rich.

Thank you, you are right. I was very frustrated due to all history I just explained above. That is why I asked for advice from other people. Some people like your self replied with a helpful comment and some people jumped straight to judge me and make fun out of it. Again Thank you!

teneighty

carmijoon wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.
This is exactly what exactly happened, we had the line and the wall supposed to be in the middle. 150mm on my land and 150mm on his land. However the final wall is 110-120mm on his land and 180mm-190mm on my land. We divided our boundary line with kerbs. So it is so obvious the wall is not right. The survivor said this will be now a civil matter and he cannot help.

Some people here started to judge that how treble neighbour I am or I do have nothing to do in my life. But what they don't see is how much stress this neighbour already caused by starting his work without even serving us any notice. And more the attitude of I do whatever I want was more pushing me to see what options do I have.

Thanks again

I would apply more pressure on your Party Wall Surveyor. Your neighbour is in breach of the award and there are sanctions that can be applied.

Depending on how far the build has got will depend what can be done. If wall is only just started then knock it down and start again. If the extension is finished then something like neighbour buying the strip of land the wall is trespassing on.

If the Party Wall surveyor will not help and he is a member of RICS then go down the formal complaint route against surveyor.

The Party Wall Act is intended to avoid these sorts of disputes so it is a very poor show that the surveyor has let this happen and now seems to be washing their hands of responsibility.

Jackmydad

TELLIT01 wrote: »

What do you think you can do if the neighbour refuses to apologise? Stop wasting your time and effort worrying about something which has happened and cannot be changed. Take it to court and there will be wranglings which could last for years whilst the solicitors get rich.

Pretty well what I think. While at the start of the wall (at the house I assume) the centre may be easy to ascertain, (and I wouldn't reckon anything building wise as having to be within 30mm tolerance) then the further away it gets more difficult it becomes. As I said, the lines on maps and plans have a thickness which translates to quite a lot on the ground.

What should be right, and what is right are rarely the same thing, and while I won't be bullied by anyone myself, I can also see when any "win" could well be a Pyrrhic victory. So I'd let it go.

Loads of worry, loads of possible cost, and falling out with your attached neighbour over a tiny bit of ground.

I understand the OP thinking it's a cheek, but life really is too short for some things. This is one of them, at least IMHO.

teneighty

Jackmydad wrote: »

Pretty well what I think. While at the start of the wall (at the house I assume) the centre may be easy to ascertain, (and I wouldn't reckon anything building wise as having to be within 30mm tolerance) then the further away it gets more difficult it becomes. As I said, the lines on maps and plans have a thickness which translates to quite a lot on the ground.

What should be right, and what is right are rarely the same thing, and while I won't be bullied by anyone myself, I can also see when any "win" could well be a Pyrrhic victory. So I'd let it go.

Loads of worry, loads of possible cost, and falling out with your attached neighbour over a tiny bit of ground.

I understand the OP thinking it's a cheek, but life really is too short for some things. This is one of them, at least IMHO.

But we are not talking about lines on maps. It is an extension to an existing building and if a new party wall is being built it is fairly safe to assume there is an existing party wall between the properties.

So we are talking about bricks and mortar that are very easy to measure and determine where the centre line is.

It really is very basic stuff for a party wall surveyor or a designer or builder.

I think people are getting confused with a boundary dispute where the exact position of the boundary can be difficult to establish. In a party wall situation it is usually very simple.

Doozergirl

teneighty wrote: »

It looks like your Party Wall Surveyor has dropped a clanger on this one.

It is quite common for a new separating/party wall to be 300mm thick and should have been designed so that the boundary runs down the middle. I assume the houses are attached therefore it should be very easy to establish the centre line of the existing party wall and follow that through to the extension. This should have been documented in the party wall award.

I assume you agreed to a new party wall being built as you intend to extend and use the wall yourself?

If your Party Wall Surveyor cannot resolve this to your satisfaction you could make a complaint against him personally.

Really?

The OP says that it does start at the centre point, but says it's 30mm off by the other end of the extension.

You think it's worth it? You genuinely think the surveyor isn't doing their job? You would expect it to be rebuilt or for the to pay for an *apparent* trespass of 30mm reducing to 0mm at the centre of the existing party wall?

How would you categorically confirm that trespass against the title plan and what value do you think that sliver of land holds?

I have a feeling you've misread the OP.

carmijoon

Doozergirl wrote: »

Really?

The OP says that it does start at the centre point, but says it's 30mm off by the other end of the extension.

You think it's worth it? You genuinely think the surveyor isn't doing their job? You would expect it to be rebuilt or for the to pay for an *apparent* trespass of 30mm reducing to 0mm at the centre of the existing party wall?

How would you categorically confirm that trespass against the title plan and what value do you think that sliver of land holds?

I have a feeling you've misread the OP.

We have a proof as the boundary line is my case is crystal clear. We have a concrete kerbs as a boundary and the new wall is not aligned in the middle. I already replied to your initial comment which was more making some personal comment again me without even knowing the whole story.
Telling people how often you find yourself conflict with people you you need a head wobble is not helping.

Anyways, I hope now you have a better undressing of the situation with the history I gave you on my previous message.