In this article, we are going to be discussing whether your neighbour (the building owner) would have to notify you (the adjoining owner) via a Party Wall Notice if they are planning on building a rear extension.
This article is written for adjoining owners who commonly find themselves with this question if their neighbour, the building owner is planning to build an extension.
DEPTH AND DISTANCE
The short answer is it depends on how far the distance between your two properties is and the location of the planned work.
If the distance is greater than 3 metres, more often than not your neighbour would not need to notify you under the Party Wall etc Act 1996.
If it is a greater distance then 6 metres, then they will not need to notify you under the Act, as the works would fall outside the remit of the Act.
If the distance is within 6 metres and the intended depth of their foundations interact with your own, using a 45 degree angle, then they will need to serve a Party Wall Notice upon you.
In other words, if you draw a line from the base of the building owner’s foundations to the base of your own foundations at a 45 degree angle and the two meet, the Act applies.
If you don’t know the depth of your foundations, which isn’t uncommon, the depth will be estimated. For example, between 300 millimetres to 600 millimetres for a turn of the century or a 1930’s property.
THE WORKS THAT ARE COVERED BY THE ACT
It’s important to note that not all of the building owner’s planned construction works will be covered.
Firstly, to understand this we must consider the works that would be notifiable under the Party Wall etc Act 1996 and then relate those to what would be required when planning an extension.
There are three sections of the Act, being Sections 1, 2, and 6, which trigger the need for a Party Wall Notice.
SECTION 1
Works that involve the construction of a new wall up to or astride the line of junction.
This commonly applies to the flank walls of the planned extension. If these are constructed in close proximity to the boundary line, the Act’s requirement to serve a Party Wall Notice is very likely to come into play.
Works under Section 1 will require a Party Wall Notice to be served by the building owner, on the adjoining owner, a minimum of a 1 month before any of the planned works were able to commence.
SECTION 2
Section 2 works generally relate to those that are taking place to a party wall (a shared wall which forms part of one or both owners’ properties), a party structure (floor or ceiling within flats, maisonettes and other multi occupancy buildings), or to a party fence wall (a shared garden wall).
When comparing the scope of the works that Section 2 covers, in comparison to Section 1 or 6, it is far greater.
Section 2 of the Act comes into play if the following works are planned: underpinning, repairing, rebuilding, cutting into or away from, damp proof works and raising to name just a few.
In all normal circumstances, it’s quite rare that Section 2 works will come into play for extensions. However, this isn’t to say they can’t.
Works under Section 2 will require a Party Wall Notice to be served by the building owner, on the adjoining owner, a minimum of a 2 months before any of the planned works were able to commence.
SECTION 6
Section 6 relates to excavations generally and for a proposed foundation or wall.
We’ve touched on the scenarios when a Section 6 Party Wall Notice is required above.
In this day and age, Building Regulations require modern structures such as an extension to be built of a minimum foundation of a 1 metre in depth. This depth can increase if there is granular soil, mature trees in close proximity or a history of subsidence.
This means that they will almost always kick into play the 45 degree angle rule if an adjoining owner’s structure is within 3 metres of the planned works.
Like Section of the Act, Section 6 works will require a Party Wall Notice to be served by the building owner, on the adjoining owner, a minimum of a 1 month before any of the planned works were able to commence.
If you are a building owner or an adjoining owner in need of Party Wall Notice advice, we would recommend enlisting a qualified and experienced Party Wall Surveyor. We’ve listed a number of these on our Party Wall Surveyor directory.