Party Wall Notices are required when a building owner is planning on undertaking construction works to their property.
Importantly, those construction works must fall within the realm and remit of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996.
If indeed, an adjoining owner opts to consent to the Party Wall Notice, at that stage, the building owner will have no further formalities to adhere to, in essence, being free to progress the works.
Equally, if an adjoining owner opts to dissent to the Party Wall Notice, they will effectively be asking and requiring the building owner to go through the Act’s formal procedures.
Can a Party Wall Notice be verbal?
In many cases, building owners will naturally want to have a degree of cost control over the legal procedures that can come with the service of a Party Wall Notice.
A key and important fact to note is that a building owner does not need to use a legal professional to prepare and serve the Party Wall Notice.
Instead, the Party Wall Etc Act 1996 gives a building owner the legal right to fulfil and undertake that duty on their own.
In attempting to control costs, many building owners will mistakenly, verbally advise their neighbour, the adjoining owner of their planned party wall works.
Party Wall Notices cannot be in verbal form and have to be in writing.
It is also important to note that the Party Wall Notice itself must have specific inclusions within it to ensure it is legally valid.
Valid Party Wall Notice
We are now going to touch on these briefly to help advise both building owner and adjoining owner alike.
Dated and Signed
The Party Wall Notice must have a date of service and equally must be signed by the building owner or person who has served it.
Description of the Works
The Party Wall Notice must contain a clear and concise description of what the party wall works are.
Drawings
In some cases, the Party Wall Notice will need to contain specific drawings to ensure it is legally valid.
Referral to the Act
The Party Wall Notice must contain some form of referral or nod to the Party Wall Etc Act 1996.
Work Start Date
The Party Wall Notice must set out an intended date to commence the planned works.
Providing all of these elements are carefully followed, building owners can very easily and cost effectively serve a Party Wall Notice on an adjoining owner.
If you’d like to serve a Party Wall Notice yourself, there are a number of different websites out there which can help facilitate this. We also have our own free Party Wall Notice creator.