Shared Chimney - Protection against claim for work costs

curiousmonkey987

Hi,

In brief, I have a shared chimney and was contacted by a roofing co, as neighbours supposedly have issues on their side. I had some work done on the chimney a number of years ago prior to the neighbours moving in (replacing frost-blown bricks, repointing etc..), and as such it's sound externally and in the loft space.

Their suggestion was knock down the stack below roof level and tile-over as they do not use their chimney, to which I objected as I would like to retain it.

The other option was a remove and rebuild at approx £7k, which they begrudge paying because the don't use it, and again due to my side being sound, I do not feel it necessary for me to contribute £3.5k.

They have since proposed works solely on their side, which does not require either knockdown or rebuild, and the roofing co have assured me they'll replace and make good any damage to slates whilst on my roof - with the neighbour footing the bill for all works.

Given they can get away with now not requiring £7k of work (and my £3.5k contribution), despite it being 'unsafe' and 'urgent' - I'm very sceptical, since the roofing guy is friendly with the neighbour 

I'm now just asking whether there's anything I need to do to protect myself from future claims for contribution to the works??

Mark_d

The works are solely on your neighbour's side and they've committed to making good any damage to your roof.  The contract is between your neighbour and the roofing company.  Who do you think could make any claim against you, and on what grounds?

MysteryMe

I would get it all in writing and ask for the insurance details of the roofer and check that it is a valid policy, not just someone who got a temporary certificate of insurance but didn't actually pay the premium.

moneysaver1978

If there’s a lack of confidence, surely a party wall surveyor should be involved?

ThisIsWeird

You seem overly concerned about your neighbour carrying out the same work you have had done to your side? 
Who did you use for yours? Are you 100% happy with the work they did? Were they reasonable? And professional? Have you suggested them to your neighbour?
Absolutely do the usual stuff like lots of photos of the existing stack and surrounding flashings, and also check out their roofer for repute. 
If you have good cause to consider them dodgy, and you have an alternative that has demonstrated their competence, then by all means have a chat with your neighb about this, suggesting they will have some responsibility if they still chose the former, and things don't go well.
I'd have thought, tho', that a known friendly roofer would be more inclined to make a decent job, rather than the opposite.
Why were you opposed to removing the stack - aesthetics, or because you'd already forked out for the repairs? If a disused stack doesn't contribute to a houses appearance, then removal is usually the best option, as it's always the weakest watery part of a roof.
When you had the work done on your side, did you try and discuss with the then-neighbours to have it all done at the same time?
Do you have LegProt on your house insurance? If not, I'd suggest adding it, and then relax :-)

Ganga

ThisIsWeird said:

You seem overly concerned about your neighbour carrying out the same work you have had done to your side? 
Who did you use for yours? Are you 100% happy with the work they did? Were they reasonable? And professional? Have you suggested them to your neighbour?
Absolutely do the usual stuff like lots of photos of the existing stack and surrounding flashings, and also check out their roofer for repute. 
If you have good cause to consider them dodgy, and you have an alternative that has demonstrated their competence, then by all means have a chat with your neighb about this, suggesting they will have some responsibility if they still chose the former, and things don't go well.
I'd have thought, tho', that a known friendly roofer would be more inclined to make a decent job, rather than the opposite.
Why were you opposed to removing the stack - aesthetics, or because you'd already forked out for the repairs? If a disused stack doesn't contribute to a houses appearance, then removal is usually the best option, as it's always the weakest watery part of a roof.
When you had the work done on your side, did you try and discuss with the then-neighbours to have it all done at the same time?
Do you have LegProt on your house insurance? If not, I'd suggest adding it, and then relax :-)

ThisIsWeird said:

You seem overly concerned about your neighbour carrying out the same work you have had done to your side? 
Who did you use for yours? Are you 100% happy with the work they did? Were they reasonable? And professional? Have you suggested them to your neighbour?
Absolutely do the usual stuff like lots of photos of the existing stack and surrounding flashings, and also check out their roofer for repute. 
If you have good cause to consider them dodgy, and you have an alternative that has demonstrated their competence, then by all means have a chat with your neighb about this, suggesting they will have some responsibility if they still chose the former, and things don't go well.
I'd have thought, tho', that a known friendly roofer would be more inclined to make a decent job, rather than the opposite.
Why were you opposed to removing the stack - aesthetics, or because you'd already forked out for the repairs? If a disused stack doesn't contribute to a houses appearance, then removal is usually the best option, as it's always the weakest watery part of a roof.
When you had the work done on your side, did you try and discuss with the then-neighbours to have it all done at the same time?
Do you have LegProt on your house insurance? If not, I'd suggest adding it, and then relax :-)

Reading the original post the poster only had maintenance carried out to their half of the chimney ,the people next door want their half removed as they do not use it but curiosmonkey987 wants to use theirs.
Removal of half a chimney MAY cause loads of problems ,like the stack collapsing and coming thru the roof!!
I would find out exactly what they are proposing to do ad ake it from there. 

ThisIsWeird

Ganga said:

Reading the original post the poster only had maintenance carried out to their half of the chimney ,the people next door want their half removed as they do not use it but curiosmonkey987 wants to use theirs.
Removal of half a chimney MAY cause loads of problems ,like the stack collapsing and coming thru the roof!!
I would find out exactly what they are proposing to do ad ake it from there. 

Thanks, but I read it differently.

The OP had repairs done, presumably because it was the obvious thing to do, cheaper, and didn't involve the neighbour. We don't know if the OP even suggested to the then neighb having this done jointly at the time?

We don't really know if the OP actually wants this stack for anything other than cost-savings reasons - in which case, fair enough.

It's perfectly understandable that the OP does not want the additional hefty cost of now jointly taking this stack down, especially after they had their side refurbished a few years back.

It's also perfectly understand able that the OP has concerns about such work being done on an adjoining roof, but this happens countless times each day across the country.

So, the OP should carry out due diligence to ensure the roofer is reputable and has insurance, take plenty of 'before' photos, make observations of the ongoing work on a daily basis - and make damned sure they have LegProt.

Ganga

ThisIsWeird said:

Ganga said:

Reading the original post the poster only had maintenance carried out to their half of the chimney ,the people next door want their half removed as they do not use it but curiosmonkey987 wants to use theirs.
Removal of half a chimney MAY cause loads of problems ,like the stack collapsing and coming thru the roof!!
I would find out exactly what they are proposing to do ad ake it from there. 

Thanks, but I read it differently.

The OP had repairs done, presumably because it was the obvious thing to do, cheaper, and didn't involve the neighbour. We don't know if the OP even suggested to the then neighb having this done jointly at the time?

We don't really know if the OP actually wants this stack for anything other than cost-savings reasons - in which case, fair enough.

It's perfectly understandable that the OP does not want the additional hefty cost of now jointly taking this stack down, especially after they had their side refurbished a few years back.

It's also perfectly understand able that the OP has concerns about such work being done on an adjoining roof, but this happens countless times each day across the country.

So, the OP should carry out due diligence to ensure the roofer is reputable and has insurance, take plenty of 'before' photos, make observations of the ongoing work on a daily basis - and make damned sure they have LegProt.

It was a previous neighbour when the repairs were carried out and as it is a shared chimney that may cause problems.