Party Wall Appointment
Leyton, London E10
(London Borough of Waltham Forest)
Close to Walthamstow and Wanstead. Within the catchment of our Finchley office.
Background: The works required excavation for foundations within 3 m of the adjoining owner's property and below the level of the adjoining owner's foundations. A new wall was to be erected on the line of juncture. It was also proposed to raise the Party Wall parapet.
We were appointed by the building owner. The adjoining owner did not wish to appoint the building owner's Surveyor as Agreed Surveyor and instead appointed his own Surveyor.
There was one adjoining owner to the works.
The works involved the erection of a ground floor extension to the rear of the house.
Conclusion:
The building owner wished to extend the existing rear extension and replace the existing roof in order to increase the internal height of the ceiling. As can be seen from the picture, the parapet separating the two rear extensions is a Party Wall, such that the line of juncture between the two properties was at the midpoint of the thickness of the parapet wall. The Party Wall Act does not allow for a new all to be built as a Party Wall, hence the building owner could not continue the Party Wall rearwards but instead had to 'kink in' the new section of wall such that it remained wholly on his own land.
The parapet wall was weatherproofed in felt which had to be temporarily removed to allow the parapet height to be raised. The Award required that the weatherproofing be re-attached once the parapet had been raised.