Next door have taken out fireplace to install a woodburner

Pennyhafod

The installers drilled holes to put in supports for a new lintle and drilled through the wall and into my hall

Supersonos

Go and tell the installers.  They’ll have to repair the holes.

Pennyhafod

Do I have to let them or do I have the right to do the repairs myself and ask for compensation? Surely they did the damage and the ball is in my court. I thought that a party wall agreement should have been sought pre- work.

FaceHead

Have you talked to you neighbour? You should do so (calmly) immediately. 

Your neighbour's duty is to put right the damage they've caused. That could be an agreed financial settlement, or it could be their contractor putting it right, however the first part is they need to know about it. They have the right to put it right, but these might be the sort of cowboys who are hard to get to come back. Most decent builders would of course be mortified by making such a mistake. 

Yes PWA notice should have been served, but they fact it hasn't doesn't really change anything - that's how pointless the act is. 

neilmcl

You're entitled to recover your losses to be put back in the position you were before the damage took place, anything else would be betterment. So if your idea is to take the opportunity to completely redecorate whilst repairing the damage yourself then invoice the neighbours builder then think again.

The first thing most people would be doing is going next door and getting the neighbour to sort out the damage to the wall. Also not much point in worrying about party wall agreements, the horse has already left that stable.

Pennyhafod

Arrogant attitude of installer "accidents happen" "I am a builder I can put it right" ( When you realise that you have breached wall once, would you really do it 3times more to be sure?), make me not want him in my house. He denies that there was any need for PWA - I agree that that is a fairly useless piece of paper and especially now, after the event. 

casper_gutman

neilmcl said:

You're entitled to recover your losses to be put back in the position you were before the damage took place, anything else would be betterment. So if your idea is to take the opportunity to completely redecorate whilst repairing the damage yourself then invoice the neighbours builder then think again.

At the same time, if you didn't have (enough of) the right paint to touch up the wall after the repair, it would surely be reasonable to ask that the room be repainted so that all the walls matched? That is, assuming they did before the incident.

GDB2222

I would talk to a solicitor, immediately! If there's ongoing work, you can get an injunction to have all work stopped.

Doozergirl

You can attach things to a party wall without invoking the act.  They've made a simple mistake and gone a bit far as the wall probably wasn't as thick as they thought. 

Why on earth do you need someone else to fix it?  You should give that opportunity to your neighbour's builder, even under the party wall act. 

Stuff happens sometimes.  It's hardly arrogant to say 'it's okay, I'm a builder' when you're actually a builder. 

twopenny

Talk to the neighbour and tell them what is happening and what you would like the outcome to be. They may be unaware. If they are concerned then invite them in and show them. You'll have to prove the damage anyway.

They should not be intruding into your walls in any way.

Doozergirl

GDB2222 said:

I would talk to a solicitor, immediately! If there's ongoing work, you can get an injunction to have all work stopped.

You're not serious?  This isn't what the Act is meant for, not in letter or spirit.