Party Wall Advice

[Forza_66]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this, but worth a try... trying to find some advice on party wall agreements

We've recently had a loft conversion. We had a party wall survey completed, and all works were completed in March & signed off by building control.

Now, 6 months later, neighbour claims we have caused water ingress in his loft, & he has had a contractor say that the only fix is an entire new roof (surprise surprise)

Our party wall surveyor suggests we now need another survey to identify the root cause of the leak. OK fine. - but his roof is generally in a state of disrepair so not sure how they will pinpoint one specific cause.

However, our surveyor also suggested that if neighbours roof is leaking now, and wasn't before, then we will be liable even if there is not clear evidence that any damage is a result of our works.

This sounds mad.

Given that water ingress has only been apparent after recent heavy rain, how can we be sure there wasn't water ingress after heavy rain previously (and just happened to be dry at the time of the party wall survey).

We are reasonable people and will obviously pay for any damage our works caused, but we expect clear before/after evidence of what the damage is - we're obviously not just going to blindly pay for him to have a new roof

Can anyone help with what our rights are here?

Any help appreciated!

[Lotobear]

What does the schedule of condition say?

[Forza_66]

Lotobear said:

What does the schedule of condition say?

Yep, good question. At time of the original survey, the neighbour would not let our surveyor enter the property, and refused to share the output from his own surveyor unless called for. (the survey that we paid for!)

My current stance with our surveyor is that I'm not acknowledging any complaint until the schedule of condition is released

[Lotobear]

Forza_66 said:

Lotobear said:

What does the schedule of condition say?

Yep, good question. At time of the original survey, the neighbour would not let our surveyor enter the property, and refused to share the output from his own surveyor unless called for. (the survey that we paid for!)

My current stance with our surveyor is that I'm not acknowledging any complaint until the schedule of condition is released

That sounds very odd - the schedule should have been agreed, published and signed off by both surveyors as an integral part of the award

[Cow Corner]

Lotobear said:

Forza_66 said:

Lotobear said:

What does the schedule of condition say?

Yep, good question. At time of the original survey, the neighbour would not let our surveyor enter the property, and refused to share the output from his own surveyor unless called for. (the survey that we paid for!)

My current stance with our surveyor is that I'm not acknowledging any complaint until the schedule of condition is released

Agree that sounds very odd - the schedule should have been agreed, published and signed off by both surveyors as an integral part of the award

Agree, I haven’t done PW matters for some time, but I’d question the validity of any SoC that was not agreed by both surveyors at the time of the award. Was your surveyor in attendance when the SoC was carried out?

I’d also be seeking further clarification on your PW surveyor’s advice that you would be liable for a leak that has occurred post completion, regardless of whether the cause is related to your works.