Party Wall Act - Y or N?

[Swervin_Mervin]

Our adjoining neighbour (semi-detached) has received planning consent for a 2 storey rear extension. That was Friday, and today the builders have started digging for the foundations.

We haven't been served Notice under the PWA. We have a single-storey existing side extension which has required underpinning - a combination of poor ground and substandard original foundations.

I've done a bit of reading on it though and I can't decide if we're better off not saying anything. There appears to be conflicting advice online regarding whether you stand a better chance of a decent payout for a claim if the neighbour hasn't gone through the PWA process.

Anyone with any experience of such matters got any views on what might be the best approach?

ETA - It's a rear extension not side. Makes quite a bit of a difference to the issue!

Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Monday 30th November 10:21

[Richard-D]

Surely this is nowhere near your party wall?

[blueg33]

How close is the foundation to yours and how far down are they going?

Personally, I would raise it with your neighbors urgently.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Blue - it's around a foot from the boundary - about 1-1.2m from our existing extension. No idea how deep they're going, but our underpinning goes to 2m below ground. Given ours is single storey you'd imagine they may need to go deeper.

My primary concern is to ensure that the foundation design is up to snuff and I'm not sure how best to go about that. They've apparently got a private building control inspector involved,.

[sospan]

What notification of any kind have you had re the planning ?
Have the Planning section or buildings regs of the LA sent you anything? I would be surprised if nothing had come to you over a decent period prior to now.
Speak to the neighbour and planning/ buildings regs.
Equus on here is the person to guide you but he would need details of distances, levels, legalities.
Surely the time to sort this out is now rather than wait to see if problems occur in the future? Prevent problems rather than deal with the crap later.

[blueg33]

Definitely needs sorting now, especially if you think they are going deeper than your foundations and as there is a history of abnormal foundations because of ground quality.

Equus knows more about the technicality than me, I usually go to people like him to sort it.

[Swervin_Mervin]

sospan said:

What notification of any kind have you had re the planning ?
Have the Planning section or buildings regs of the LA sent you anything? I would be surprised if nothing had come to you over a decent period prior to now.
Speak to the neighbour and planning/ buildings regs.
Equus on here is the person to guide you but he would need details of distances, levels, legalities.
Surely the time to sort this out is now rather than wait to see if problems occur in the future? Prevent problems rather than deal with the crap later.

Fully notified of planning. BC is being undertaken by private BC inspector.

My hesitancy only stems from whether it is potentially better to make a claim (should one ever need to obvs) against a neighbour that hasn't followed the PWA process or not. It seems from some light reading that you're potenitally more likely to a: receive a payout and b: receive a healthy payout, if they haven't followed PWA.

This seems to be particularly pertintent if it's difficult to establish whether a valid claim exists i.e. that if PWA hasn't been followed you're more likely to achieve a result with a claim as the courts take a very dim view of developers that haven't followed due process.

[blueg33]

Swervin_Mervin said:

sospan said:

What notification of any kind have you had re the planning ?
Have the Planning section or buildings regs of the LA sent you anything? I would be surprised if nothing had come to you over a decent period prior to now.
Speak to the neighbour and planning/ buildings regs.
Equus on here is the person to guide you but he would need details of distances, levels, legalities.
Surely the time to sort this out is now rather than wait to see if problems occur in the future? Prevent problems rather than deal with the crap later.

Fully notified of planning. BC is being undertaken by private BC inspector.

My hesitancy only stems from whether it is potentially better to make a claim (should one ever need to obvs) against a neighbour that hasn't followed the PWA process or not. It seems from some light reading that you're potenitally more likely to a: receive a payout and b: receive a healthy payout, if they haven't followed PWA.

This seems to be particularly pertintent if it's difficult to establish whether a valid claim exists i.e. that if PWA hasn't been followed you're more likely to achieve a result with a claim as the courts take a very dim view of developers that haven't followed due process.

You have an obligation to mitigate the other persons loss. This generally means notifying them as soon as you are aware of the issue. Leaving it, means you are not mitigating their loss.

[Electric sheep]

I may be mistaken, but having gone through something similar I was advised that once work starts there's no provision in the Party Wall Act for retrospective notices to be issued.

I was also advised that even if the Neighbour hadn't followed the correct procedures, it would potentially be very costly, stressful and generally not worth trying to sort the issue in court after the event, so if you foresee a problem with what they are doing, and you are able to resolve it informally and politely, it is still probably worth acting now regardless of the Party Wall notification being issued or not.

Edited by Electric sheep on Monday 30th November 14:36

[Swervin_Mervin]

Thanks all.

I've had a word with both neighbour and builder. We'll see what happens. However, it became apparent that they're expecting the Inspector out first thing tomorrow and the concrete is booked for midday. So at this stage I'd be amazed if they stop.

However. I'm not sure there's much ellse I can do short of pursuing an expensive injunction.

[deckster]

Swervin_Mervin said:

This seems to be particularly pertintent if it's difficult to establish whether a valid claim exists i.e. that if PWA hasn't been followed you're more likely to achieve a result with a claim as the courts take a very dim view of developers that haven't followed due process.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but isn't the main concern to make sure your house doesn't fall down? Any claim would be based on your actual loss so it must surely be better to raise it now and head off any problems before they arise.

[blueg33]

Quick solicitors letter promising an injunction?

[Swervin_Mervin]

I've now been served notice! Dated March 2019 mind...

I'll request a copy of the calcs - again this is my main concern and I've no motivation to hold anything up otherwise.

[Richard-D]

Swervin_Mervin said:

ETA - It's a rear extension not side. Makes quite a bit of a difference to the issue!

Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Monday 30th November 10:21

That makes more sense! I was very confused and figured I must be missing something.