Do we need a Party Wall Agreement

[Becks1974]

Hello,

 

So we've got planning approval through to build a new single storey extension to the back of our semi-detached house - we're good to go with commencement of works as builder lined up and all materials ordered.

 

Because we are a semi we need a Party wall agreement with the adjoining neighbours as we are building within the 3m rule, we have appointed a Party Wall surveyor to act for both us and the neighbour as 'agreed surveyor', no problems so far - the Surveyor came yesterday to do an initial site visit.  As soon as he stepped foot in the garden, he said, "of course you'll also need an agreement to the other neighbour as well"  Now I have done my research on Party Wall matters and I feel that we don't need one with them - their nearest building is about 3.4m away from our new extension, our extension will consist of standard 1m footings and I have worked out using the 45degree rule that even if the neighbours nearest building has foundations of only 400m then we still wouldn't need a Party Wall agreement as our new foundations would easily be shallow enough not to need a Party Wall Agreement with them.

 

Unless I'm missing something I think the Surveyor is wrong when he says we need one for the other neighbour - can anybody advise me in case I have got things wrong and missed something.

 

Many thanks for reading

[tonyshouse]

Not advice but I would ignore other neighbour - lots of people don’t even know about PWA 

[Becks1974]

Thanks Tony,

 

I'd love to ignore the other neighbour as we don't really get along, however he would know about Party Wall Agreements as he had to don one when he did a side extension, however he built right up to our boundary line.  I am tempted to go along with my findings in that I don't think we need one as our foundations wouldn't really be deep enough to warrant a 3-6m Party Wall Agreement - I s'pose I'm just seeking some sort of clarification.

[Mr Punter]

Party Wall stuff is sometimes a fee fest.  Ultimately it is of no benefit to you unless, for example, you need to underpin their property or erect scaffold on it or demolish part of it in order to carry out your works.  Even with an Award in place, if anything goes wrong it will be you who pays.  The Award does not mean the works will be safe and it gives you no protection.

 

If you are happy that your foundations do not contravene the 3m rule, just crack on.  They could apply for an injunction but they would lose and risk your legal and delay costs as well as their own.

[Temp]

8 hours ago, Becks1974 said:

Because we are a semi we need a Party wall agreement with the adjoining neighbours as we are building within the 3m rule,

 

Even then you only need a Party Wall Agreement if you will be digging deeper than the neighbours foundations. If your extension will use foundations the same depth as your house then chances are they won't be deeper than the neighbours so no PWA needed. 

 

See para 28 on page 21.. 

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523010/Party_Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf

 

Remember that nothing can overhang the boundary so the wall might have to be slightly on your side to allow for the gutters or verge overhang later. Many builders seem to forget this point.

 

 

 

[Becks1974]

Thanks so much everybody - I think we'll ignore the other neighbour, I'm 99.9% certain we won't need a Party Wall Agreement, I think maybe the Surveyor saw pound signs, he's going to cost us about £1,000 as it is and I think that's more than enough money he's getting from us!