From 1st to 15th February Nick Isaac QC ran a series of 5 webinars aimed primarily at party wall practitioners, on the topics listed below.
Recordings of each webinar were made, and are available at £30 for each each webinar. If you would like to purchase a recording, or have any questions about the series, please feel free to contact me at nisaac@tanfieldchambers.co.uk
Part 1 – Schedules of Condition – The purpose and legal significance of SOCs; the appropriate person to undertake SOCs; how to record and present SOCs; the appropriate extent of an AO’s property to be covered by a SOC; the role of photographs/videos in SOCs; when SOCs are unnecessary and/or inappropriate; dealing with access issues for SOCs; privacy issues and SOCs; the role of SOCs in post-works’ compensation claims
Part 2 – Use of Third Party Advisers – What third party advisers are available, and when it might be appropriate to use them; the why how and when of appointing advisers; whether to instruct an adviser yourself or via the appointing owner; whether to instruct separate or joint advisers; the importance of proportionality when considering instructing advisers; particular considerations to bear in mind when instructing structural engineers, lawyers, acoustic consultants and others. (with Will Minting contributing)
Part 3 – Compensation under section 7(2) – Covering the various heads of compensation which regularly arise in party wall matters, and some less common ones, including: Physical damage to an adjoining owner’s property; loss of amenity; loss of profit or earnings; loss of rent; personal injury; professional costs. Also dealing with some key factors applying to such claims, such as what evidence might be appropriate, the so-called “duty to mitigate” and the impacts these have on claims by adjoining owners.
Part 4 – Mediation and Arbitration in party wall matters – Although resolution of dispute by award is the most common way for party wall disputes to be resolved, there are often occasions – ironically where the dispute between building owner and adjoining owner is a real and/or serious dispute – when it can be in the owners’ interests for disputes to be resolved in other ways. This webinar explores what mediation and/or arbitration can offer building and adjoining owners, and party wall surveyors, how such alternative dispute resolution processes can and should be initiated and pursued, and what you can expect from them. (with HH Edward Bailey contributing)
Part 5 – Who is an adjoining owner? – Often it is easy to know who should be served as an adjoining owner, and how to serve them, but this webinar covered the more difficult situations which sometimes arise in practice, such as: If the adjoining property is a block of flats, how do I identify who needs to be served? (What information do I need, and where do I get it?).
If the building owner occupies a flat, and intends to carry out a loft or basement extension, to what extent does he need to serve other tenants?
If the building owner is a tenant, does that negate the need to serve party wall notices at all? What do I do about joint owners/tenants? What if the adjoining owner has died?
