Neighbors loft conversion, party wall.

Phil4432

FaceHead said:

I wouldn't get too worked up over the PWA. The act is a complete nonsense. Yes the neighbour should comply with the law (which they may I need be doing), but not doing so really doesn't change anything.

Notice or no notice, PWA applicable works or not, if the neighbour damages your property during their works they are liable for it. Take photos of the current condition of your property and let them get on with it. If there is damage, ask them to fix it. 

I agree with that.  If the builders cause damage it would be their responsibility to repair it.  In fact, it would be to their disadvantage to not issue a Party Wall Notice.

What I'm debating now, is whether its worth getting a Party Wall Survey.

Ganga

Even if you do not get a survey take loads of photo,s IF something goes wrong ,you will then have evidence to fall back on.

DRP

The most concerning thing for me is that they were going ahead without communicating with you. Not very neighbourly, and what else are they planning?

Phil4432

I think the question at this point is, is there any disadvantage to me if works go ahead without a party wall agreement in place?

GDB2222

Phil4432 said:

I think the question at this point is, is there any disadvantage to me if works go ahead without a party wall agreement in place?

Yes, clearly there is. If there’s damage to your house, you will have to prove it without the benefit of a professional condition survey. 

grumbler

GDB2222 said:

Phil4432 said:

I think the question at this point is, is there any disadvantage to me if works go ahead without a party wall agreement in place?

Yes, clearly there is. If there’s damage to your house, you will have to prove it without the benefit of a professional condition survey. 

I am no expert, but I think the agreement can be done without these notorious 'professional' surveyors.

FaceHead

If the neighbour fails to comply with the act, and then damages the OP's property and then there is dispute over the cause of the damage, then yes the OP is left litigating without a survey of condition before the work. 

However, the court wouldn't look favorably on the OP's neighbour in this case. The principle that the OP's neighbour shouldn't benefit from disregarding their obligations applies, so you could expect the requirement be that the OP's neighbour would need to prove (on the balance of probability) that they didn't cause the damage. Given that the OP will have taken loads of photos, if there is some genuine damage caused by the work, the OP's neighbour will have no chance of showing they didn't do it. 

A negative is a very difficult thing prove, so has led to several high profile appeals (e.g. Roadrunner Properties Ltd v Dean). Really it's the OP's neighbour that should want a condition survey to protect themselves from the OP trying to pass off pre-existing damage as a result of their work. 

Doing party wall work without giving the adjoining owner the opportunity to consent is very unneighbourly, but in the end doesn't really harm the the adjoining owner. Indeed, it's the person doing the work that puts themselves at risk of a chancer living next door by not doing a condition survey.

GDB2222

I agree. A PW survey benefits both parties. 

Within a couple of days of my neighbours putting in a planning application, I received letters from several firms specialising in this work. But there’s no reason to use these ambulance chasers. 

Phil4432

I had a chat with a Party Wall surveyor recently.

He said that the work is quite small, and given that there will only be one support in the party wall, he sees no need for the expense of a party wall agreement.  In his opinion, the party wall agreement is for larger scale projects.

He advised that the best thing for me to do, would be to take lots of photos.

The surveyor could have insisted that I need to press for a survey to be done, but he didn't.  Also had a chat with a younger surveyor, he gave me a scare story followed by a breakdown of his fees.

Either way is a chance really.  At this point, I'm going to take the initial surveyors advice.

Rosa_Damascena

Phil4432 said:

I had a chat with a Party Wall surveyor recently.

He said that the work is quite small, and given that there will only be one support in the party wall, he sees no need for the expense of a party wall agreement.  In his opinion, the party wall agreement is for larger scale projects.

He advised that the best thing for me to do, would be to take lots of photos.

The surveyor could have insisted that I need to press for a survey to be done, but he didn't.  Also had a chat with a younger surveyor, he gave me a scare story followed by a breakdown of his fees.

Either way is a chance really.  At this point, I'm going to take the initial surveyors advice.

The cost of this survey is your neighbour's responsibility, not yours!!