Party Wall Act Matters

The Party Wall etc Act, 1996, is a piece of legislation that deals with work on or around party and boundary walls and similar property divisions where there are various parties such as developers and other adjoining owners or parties.  This is where Party Wall Surveyors (PWS) are appointed to be independent of the owners and other parties with an interest in the wall to resolve or better still avoid disputes arising between them.  In such circumstances as the Act requires them to work in the best interest of the wall rather than to the individuals appointing them and so that way they ensure any dispute is settled in a fair and practical way.

The person who is having the work done is known officially as the Building Owner (BO) and the person on the ‘other’ side of the boundary is called the Adjoining Owner (AO) as described by the Act.  The initial appointment is made by the BO, but the other parties can appoint their own surveyors if they desire and where the normal fees are paid by the BO.

We can act for either side in Party Wall matters, and undertake any role that we accept in a fully professional manner in compliance with the duties we take on under the Act.  If we are appointed as your PWS to act on behalf of the party wall and other matters related to the boundaries and the requirements of the Act we are able to do this on behalf of the building or adjoining owner as we are experienced in both.  We then work with the other appointed surveyor/s to ensure the necessary procedures and requirements are followed and processed to the set-down time scales to the completion of our duties to safeguard the wall.

For this type of work our surveyors are members of the Pyramus & Thisbe Society, which is one of the controlling bodies for Party Wall Surveyors in the UK and follow their professional practice standards.  We also work fully in accordance with the practice guidelines issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.