Party Wall Advice

[AandM]

Hi all!

Does anyone have experience of obtaining party wall consent for a side return extension?

Any tips, greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[sue k]

hi we recently had to do this, as my neighbour has been building a loft and side return...we only found out about having the party wall aaward at the last minute, as they didn't get anything in place, and so glad we did! We used Mark Douglas, and he has been really helpful and helped us in some compensation payment as a result of the neighbours rubbish builders which affected our roof!! He is thorough and recommended and helped us enormously . his email and mobile are- [email protected] 07971 710 041

[Senor Chevalier]

I used James Lewis for my party wall advice on a build in Herne Hill

http://www.jlewissurveyors.co.uk/

At the end of a long and complicated building project there's not that many of the people I used for the various elements that I would use again or recommend. James is one of them.

[Sue]

Can anybody on here help?

I am the other side of the party wall from a new loft extension.

I stupidly agreed to use a surveyor who was acting for both parties, mainly because it was very short notice and I was very busy. He did a survey of my house prior to the work commencing but hasn't been back since.The survey didn't fill me with much confidence as it contained a number of basic errors just in the description of my house.

Over the course of the building work, which was from January to May, a few minor cosmetic cracks appeared in plaster, and also there was a problem due to water coming in and staining my wall, both of which the builders sorted.

Also during this time my back door started sticking badly, which it never had done before (in over twenty years) but because there had been heavy rain I assumed at the time that it was due to damp.

However to my horror I recently saw diagonal cracks across the corner of my living room ceiling (just the other side of the back door). These problems are along the same line through the house as the cracking was in the plaster.

The surveyor said he would contact me to arrange to come and look at this, but despite several chase-ups hasn't.

The builder says that there is no way that anything wrong downstairs can be due to vibration from the building work, and has more or less accused me of trying to use him to get repairs done in my house for free :(

I have googled this and found a website "oldhouseweb" which says

".... house settling can occur, particularly on clay soils, when there is a nearby source of vibration"

Since at times my whole house was shaking during the building of the extension next door. I think it's pushing credibility to think that the timing of these cracks and door sticking can be coincidence, since there has been no other movement of my house for over thirteen years.

I really need to get this sorted quickly.

Can anybody on here tell me whether strong vibration from the building of a loft extension upstairs could potentially cause these problems downstairs, or whether as the builder says that is impossible?

Thanks.

[adonirum]

Sue

Another consideration has to be the "loading spread" element of a loft conversion. This can occur after the installation of RSJ's (or equivalent) into the party wall and is probably the major factor why these agreements/awards were introduced in 1996 I think it was. This can be an indirect occurence. A good analogy to use is a skydiver landing slightly awkward and the energy forces cause, let's say, a fracture of the shoulder rather than of the foot. In much the same way, the loading forces can produce problems away from the immediate area, as oppossed to a direct problem such as in the immediate area. The builder is probably correct about the vibration element as the forces are so minor that only direct occurence would be seen ie; right next to/near where the vibration was being caused.

You absolutely must get the surveyor back or get it checked out independantly. Remember, the neighbour has to cover the fees involved.

That should have read; This can be REFERRED to as an indirect occurence.

[Sue]

Thanks Adonirum, much appreciated.

Ooops, sorry, mis-spelled your name at first attempt.

[adonirum]

A lot of people think that the act is only to cover them if the builder causes a hole right the way through the party wall when doing the "knocking about", but the load bearing aspect is by far the main raison d'etre of the act. I speak from past experience and I am sure there must be better qualified surveyors or (civil) engineers out there who could better elucidate the same.

[rachelsatterthwaite]

Hi everyone

We have lots of information on our website with regards to Party Walls and much more.

http://buildteam.com/what-we-do/faq.html

I hope this can help answer some of your quesions

Rachel

[Sue]

After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, the surveyor now says "I can categorically confirm that the cracking could not have been caused by any structural work in connection with the loft conversion - because in those areas (I presume he means the areas of the cracking) there are no steel beams and no cutting into the party wall."

Should I accept that, because I thought the whole point about the "loading spread" was that cracks could appear in other areas away from any actual steel beams or cutting?

[murt]

Sue

From what you describe, you may wish to consider getting independent advice on this, particularly as the PW surveyor hasn't filled you with confidence and damage may have been caused to your property.

If this matter is still unresolved and you want to discuss it, PM me.

Andy

[Sue]

Thanks Andy, I've PMed you.

[ninbi]

Picking this thread up, if anyone's still on it!

Our neighbours had some work done which has caused movement on our patio so a whole row of patio is now uneven and wobbly because a crack has opened up beneath.

The joint surveyor who drew up the party wall agreement before their work was carried out has inspected it and judged it be their responsibility to rectify the damage, and has been writing to them and leaving messages but getting no response.

What do you do when neighbours simply ignore the surveyor and don't repair damage? Small claims court feels extreme but I'm not sure what other options we have.