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The Party Wall Act and Compensation
Thursday 25th July 2019
Carl O'Boyle BSc MRICS FCIOB MFPWS
Section 7 (2) Compensation
According to this section, the Building Owner must compensate for 'any loss or damage which may result to any of them by reason of any work executed in pursuance of this Act.' In order for this to be legally binding the work must be executed in pursuance of the Act meaning that all procedures have been followed, i.e notices served.
If damage does occur and it has been agreed that this is new and has been caused by the Party Wall works, the Surveyor can then provide them with three options, these are:
Option 1
The Building Owner and Adjoining Owner can agree the cost of the repair work between themselves.
Option 2
The Adjoining Owner can agree for the Building Owner's contractor to come and repair the damage.
Option 3
The Building Owner pays the Adjoining Owner an agreed sum to enable them to instruct their own contractor to repair the damage.
It is always up to the Adjoining Owner to select an option as it is their property that has suffered the damage and will need to be repaired.
If you would like to read more about the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, we have produced an easy to understand guide for FREE. This can be downloaded here.
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This article was written by Carl O'Boyle BSc MRICS FCIOB MFPWS. Carl is a full professional member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a member of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building for which he currently sits on the CIOB professional conduct committee and adjudications panel.
If you have any Party Wall enquiries then please call us at our Pinner office on 0208 426 1448. We cover all of Pinner, Harrow, Stanmore, Northwood, Central London and the surrounding areas.
