Excavation, PWA, Back neighbor, Unknown Depth of Foundation

[MAR UK]

Hello,

New here, need some help.

 

I have recently purchased a corner property (near Sandwell Valley, Birmingham), with different levels and wanted to excavate 1M down, whilst leaving 1 meter inside my fence PLUS 1.3 meter or so from the neighbour’s house (back of the garden as he is in a different road), with a double block retaining wall. This is to merge one side of the garden into one.

 

My neighbour is concerned and says that I need to serve him a notice as I will be digging within 3 meters and the excavation will go below the bottom of his foundations. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know the depth of his foundation.

 

Need some info to decide best way to get this resolved – which works for both of us. Don’t have any interest in complicating things like getting surveyor involved as I consider it as a minor/short term project.

 

(1) Does PWA apply in this case?

 

(2) Any ideas as to the depth of a 1950s house foundation would be (sloped area)?

 

(3) I don’t really get the 6m rule below - how can I calculate it, say if I dig 2.5 ft and his foundation is 2ft?

“Excavate within 6 metres of a neighbouring owner’s building or structure where that work will cut a line drawn downwards at 45 degrees from the bottom of the neighbour’s foundations.”

 

(4) Neighbour seem to think that the Wall needs to use certain type of blocks with rods inserted, not the usual concrete blocks…? Is there certain type of condition when building such retaining wall?

 

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks

[DevilDamo]

If you’re excavating within 3m of your neighbour’s building and your foundations will be deeper than theirs, then the PWA would apply. With new foundations having to go down at least 1m, it’s not easy to ascertain the depth of their neighbour’s so you end up serving notice because of the unknown. You can download templates from the PWA yourself and serve those as opposed to appointing a surveyor. The attached should help clarify.

Edited July 21, 2020 by DevilDamo

[MAR UK]

Hi DevilDemo, Thanks for kind input. I am really struggling to understand the 6M rule tbh (sorry, not into DIY at all).

 

 I am also considering other options:

 

What if I just leave 3M from his house to avoid all hassles of PWA considering the fact that we really don't know his foundation depth, would he have anything to come back to me in future?

 

What if I do 600mm down within 3 meter to avoid all hassles of PWA considering the fact that we really don't know his foundation depth, would he have anything to come back to me in future?

Edited July 21, 2020 by MAR UK

[Temp]

If you dig more than 3m away you come under the "within 6m rule" rules and the 45 degree rule applies. Example: Let's say you dig 4m away. The 45 degree rule means you can dig down 4m at least before the party wall act applies.  In fact you can go deeper because the 45 degree line is drawn from the bottom of their foundations not the ground level.

 

29 minutes ago, MAR UK said:

 

What if I just leave 3M from his house to avoid all hassles of PWA

 

In that case you can dig down 3m without needing to do anything.

[DevilDamo]

48 minutes ago, MAR UK said:

What if I do 600mm down within 3 meter to avoid all hassles of PWA considering the fact that we really don't know his foundation depth, would he have anything to come back to me in future?

600mm down for what... your new foundations? If so, that would never be acceptable to Building Control because as mentioned before, the minimum is usually 1m even for single storey extensions.

 

As @Temp has mentioned... if you’re building min. 3m away then you’re pretty much sorted on the foundation front. Unless of course you end up having to pile, which is more so to do with the ground conditions.

[MAR UK]

7 minutes ago, Temp said:

If you dig more than 3m away you come under the "within 6m rule" rules and the 45 degree rule applies. Example: Let's say you dig 4m away. The 45 degree rule means you can dig down 4m at least before the party wall act applies.  In fact you can go deeper because the 45 degree line is drawn from the bottom of their foundations not the ground level.

 

 

In that case you can dig down 3m without needing to do anything.

 

Thank you,

 

So the benefit of 6m rule is ability to dig more, right?

 

So for the sake of argument, If I dig 3m or say 3.10 away from his house (by the way, the layout is his house<1.35 m is his alley way> then my fence >My garden), I don't need PWA and I don't need to get him involved in terms of how I do the retaining wall. At this moment, the previous owner already dug some part of this level and retained the soil using gravel boards , can I do same on the new area as this is a short term aim, most likely will do the garden along with other side in future and serve PWA, etc,.

 

 

[MAR UK]

7 minutes ago, DevilDamo said:

600mm down for what... your new foundations? If so, that would never be acceptable to Building Control because as mentioned before, the minimum is usually 1m even for single storey extensions.

 

As @Temp has mentioned... if you’re building min. 3m away then you’re pretty much sorted on the foundation front. Unless of course you end up having to pile, which is more so to do with the ground conditions.

Sorry, someone advised me 1950 circa house have 600mm foundation, so I am thinking as another option is to create another level and not go down to 1M to avoid PWA.

[DevilDamo]

But that would be made up ground. The 1m isn’t just a distance measured from a made up level but natural ground level.

[Declan52]

Get a spade out and dig down against your outside wall where ever is the easiest spot and find the founds. Next doors will be near enough the same. Then you will know for sure.

[Temp]

12 minutes ago, MAR UK said:

 

Thank you,

 

So the benefit of 6m rule is ability to dig more, right?

 

So for the sake of argument, If I dig 3m or say 3.10 away from his house (by the way, the layout is his house<1.35 m is his alley way> then my fence >My garden), I don't need PWA and I don't need to get him involved in terms of how I do the retaining wall. At this moment, the previous owner already dug some part of this level and retained the soil using gravel boards , can I do same on the new area as this is a short term aim, most likely will do the garden along with other side in future and serve PWA, etc,.

 

 

 

Correct. If you are digging more than 3m from their house or outbuilding then you can go down to the 45 degree line (eg at least 3m deep) without involving the neighbour or PWA.

 

 

 

 

[MAR UK]

6 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

Get a spade out and dig down against your outside wall where every is the easiest spot and find the founds. Next doors will be near enough the same. Then you will know for sure.

That something I am considering and to be fair he is willing to do it. But I am just trying to avoid hassle for me and him tbh.

 

But if I knew what the level is, I would just dig up to that level and create another level for now. Would save me money as this is just a short term aim.

Edited July 21, 2020 by MAR UK