CPT2023

Thanks to everybody for the replies, your help is very much appreciated. To answer a few questions: - The party wall award didn't cover the shared chimney. It became an issue because the neighbour complained about our builders' proposed approach to dealing with a step-down between the two flat roofs (our property is slightly higher than the neighbour's). In the end the surveyors recommended raising the parapet wall between the two properties, which made it necessary to raise the height of the chimney stack (and we decided to cap it off in the process). - The scaffolding was taken down, so new work to the roof now comes with an access issue. I've attached a couple of photos. The original mortar cracked in the hot weather last year and was subsequently filled in. It's helpful to see examples of good practice, thanks for sharing the link above TonyT. Nobody (builder, neighbour or surveyors) has shared any reference material so it's hard to figure out what good practice looks like. We want to do it right, even if it costs extra, but hard to work out what 'right' looks like. I think we probably need to do the coping. Hard to find a roofer or bricklayer interested in the job, but that's a whole other story... Thanks again!

Hi everybody, I'm in a tricky party wall dispute and could use some advice. In the course of our loft conversion last year, my neighbour (the adjoining owner) agreed to me (the building owner) getting the shared chimney stack capped with mortar flaunching. Now, his party wall surveyor claims it's inadequate and insists on replacing the mortar with coping stones. I feel this is unreasonable given the initial agreement and the long (six-month) gap before any objections were raised. Here are some more details: 1. The neighbour agreed via SMS to the flaunching after I sent him a diagram of the proposed mortar flaunching. I have a record of this. 2. The neighbour was well aware of the work, even going up onto the roof to inspect the flaunching after it had been completed. 3. The neighbour's surveyor raised his complaint the day before the scaffold was due to come down, six months after the work was completed. 4. The neighbour's surveyor plans to charge us for his time in relation to this issue (at £250 per hour...). 5. I've consulted a number of roofing companies. Most say the flaunching is fully adequate. I'm unsure how to navigate this situation. Can I refuse to replace the mortar? Can I refuse to pay the neighbour's surveyor for the 'extra' time relating to this (given the neighbour himself agreed to the work)? Thanks in advance for any advice.