Party Wall Cases

Enforcement of party wall awards; whether an appeal should proceed under Part 8 or Part 52 relating to statutory appeals; invalidity of…

Party walls; validity of award; appointment of surveyors; oral agreement Summary: Building owners failed in their attempt to set aside an award…

Party walls; compensation; mitigation of loss; surveyor’s conduct. Although not a judgment on appeal, Coulson LJ’s reasoned refusal of permission to appeal…

Party walls; compensation; remedial works; mitigation of loss; surveyors Facts: The Welters built their basement extension shortly before the McKeeves, and consequently…

Summary: An unsuccessful attempt to challenge a third surveyor’s decision on three primarily technical and unattractive grounds. Facts: Mr Walsh was long…

Party walls; no notice; jurisdiction Summary: Unless a notice under the Act is served on him, an adjoining owner cannot invoke the…

Party Walls: whether Act can be invoked absent a notice; jurisdiction of surveyors N.b. permission to appeal is currently being sought against…

Assessment of damages taking into consideration diminution of adjoining owner’s property and findings of Trespass. This appeal relates to a dispute between…

Preliminary issue; validity of notice; waiver/estoppel re invalid notice; scope of jurisdiction. This is my judgment in relation to an appeal arising…

Notice under section 3(1) and/or section 6(5); whether or not a notice can be varied; waiver. This is an appeal pursuant to…

Award made in the absence of notice; validity of retrospective awards. This has been a difficult action for both parties. In the…

Failure to serve notice before commencing notifiable works; Court’s approach to causation of damage. That property is one of a terrace of…

Party walls; boundary disputes; surveyors’ jurisdiction; third surveyor referrals; refusal to act This is my judgment in relation to three preliminary issues…

Selection of third surveyor; estoppel; enforcement costs. Miss Reeves wished to demolish a single storey rear extension to her property and replace…

Recoverability of costs in party wall matters; litigation costs. This is an appeal from a decision of His Honour Judge Viljoen in…

Party walls; enforcement of awards; Magistrates; Construction of award; whether award conclusive under section 10(16) Summary: An attempt to enforce payment of…

Application of section 10(4) of the Act – appointing the ‘other side’s surveyor’; invalid Addendum Award. This case raises an interesting point…

Court of appeal authority determining “no notice no Act”, i.e. that the Act will not apply in the absence of a party…

Appeal against ex parte award made under section 10(6) and (7). First consideration of an ex parte award by the CA. The…

Party walls; failure to serve notice; mandatory injunction Facts: the Defendant’s builders commenced work on a roof extension which included notifiable works,…

The interpretation and application of the dispute resolution procedure under section 10 of the Act and reasonable costs. The work was never…

Party walls; trespass; nuisance; damages Case Summary: In this case the Claimant, Mr Nutt, sued for an injunction and damages in respect…

Nelson’s Yard Management Company v Eziefula  [2013] EWCA Civ 235  Click here for link to the judgment. Summary:  A party who unilaterally discontinues legal proceedings is usually required…

Summary:The Court held, in effect, that it was impossible to contract out of the Act for all purposes except for an appeal…

Claimants wished to carry out extensive works of development and refurbishment to their property, works which included the construction of a multi-layered…

Mills v Savage (Unreported, 15th June 2016) Central London County Court Summary:  This was a hearing of three preliminary issues in relation to…

Party walls; third surveyor award; jurisdiction; procedural irregularity Summary: On a party wall appeal, the judge rejected challenges to a third surveyor’s…

Party walls; method statements; detailed plans; balcony; structural engineers Facts: Part of the roof-level cornice from a building owner’s property fell and…

Party walls; third surveyor awards; appeals by way of review. The notice informed the Respondents that the Appellants wanted toremove the existing…

Longmire v Maldura  (Unreported, 29 January 2015) Central London County Court  Click here for the transcript. Summary:  Surveyors appointed under the 1996 Act hold a quasi-judicial function. …

Summary: Addendum Award, awarding compensation to the building owner for damage caused by authorised notifiable works, successfully overturned on appeal on the…

Lea Valley Development Limited v Derbyshire [2017] 1353 (TCC) Claim for declaration; interpretation and application of section 7 (2) of the Act;…

Lacey v Baker 17 May 2019 This case came before the court initially as a party wall appeal, but was followed by…

Party walls; service of documents; electronic service; impact of Party Wall etc Act 1996 (Electronic Communications) Order 2016. The parties to this…

Plaster is structural for purposes of implied terms under the Act; disturbance; loss of amenity and inconvenience claim; alternative accommodation cannot constitute…

Party walls; appeal; ultra vires award; limitation Case summary: Between 2009 and 2013 development works were carried out at Aldford House –…

Heathcote v Doal (unreported) 31st January 2017, Birmingham County Court   Transcript available at: Heathcote v Doal 31st January 2017 Birmingham County Court (TCC)   Summary:   Building owner…

Party walls; costs; litigation costs; threatened injunction; retaining wall; definition of “dispute” Facts: Group One obtained planning permission to demolish an existing…

Party walls; assessment of damages under cross-undertaking; quantum of loss; causation of loss; trespass; fraud. This is a further judgment in the…

Unnecessary inconvenience under section 7 (1) of the Party Wall etc Act 1996. These are two appeals in proceedings concerning a party…

Freetown Ltd v Assethold Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1657 Whether section 15 of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 evinces a contrary…

Judgment on the application by Mr Alister Redler to discharge a witness summons It concerns an award made by one of the…

Party walls; boundaries; estoppel; res judicata; implied boundary agreements Facts: This was the hearing of a preliminary issue as to whether it was…

Redevelopment of a large abandoned industrial building Judicial Review of Magistrates’ Court enforcement of Party Wall Awards; scope of awards; joining surveyors…

Party Walls; no dispute; ultra vires; surveyors’ fees Summary: A subsequent dispute between appointing owners must be established in order to ground…

Edward H Whybrow Co Ltd v James (5th April 2017) Summary:  The adjoining owner (Whybrow) appealed an award which provided for some (completion) works to be…

Party walls; section 7(2) compensation: Summary: Surveyors have jurisdiction to award compensation under section 7(2), even where the damage suffered, or the…

Party walls – compensation for damage to adjoining owner’s property; cost of remedial works; removal and storage; alternative accommodation; loss of amenity;…

Summary: An application to transfer a claim for breach of duty against a party wall surveyor was refused by the High Court….

Chaturachinda v Fairholme (Unreported, 23rd September 2015)   Summary  This was HHJ Bailey’s decision on the preliminary issue of whether a particular design of underpinning to…

Breuer v Leccacorvi(unreported, Central London County Court 11th February 2014 Summary  The common law measure of damages, namely diminution in the value of property,…

 Court:  This is a decision of HHJ Bailey at the Central London County Court.  It is not, therefore, binding on other county…

3 minutes late Summary: An appeal lodged with the court two minutes after close of business on the last day for issuing…

Address a problem of water leakage Mr Ash (“Mr A”) owned the leasehold and a share of the freehold of 56A Collingbourne…

Central complaint of trespass, Boundaries; party wall; injunctions; oversailing scaffolding; works commenced prior to party wall award; damages in lieu of an…

Party walls; reasonableness of surveyors’ costs; evidence required to challenge quantum of surveyor’s costs. Providing strategic litigation advice on legal and policy…