Party Wall Appointment
Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7
Marlow - Buckinghamshire, Party Wall appointment (close to High Wycombe and Bisham)
Background: The works required excavation for foundations within 3 m of one of the adjoining owner's properties to a depth that was possible lower than the level of the adjoining owner's foundations. A new wall was originally to be erected on the line of juncture. The loft conversion works also required that beams be inserted into the Party Wall.
We were initially appointed by the building owners following which, one of the two adjoining owners appointed us as Surveyor to act on their behalf as well, i.e., as 'Agreed Surveyor', in which role a Surveyor acts impartially for both neighbours.
There were two adjoining owners to each side of the property of which one adjoining owner consented to the works.
The works involved a loft conversion and a rear extension on the ground floor.
Conclusion:
What made this project slightly unusual was that the rear façade gutter was shared between the Building Owner and the Adjoining Owner and the downpipe was situated on the Building Owner's side. This created an issue, because the proposed full width extension was to be built against the rear façade necessitating that the downpipe be cut in order to make way for the new extension. We alerted the Building Owner that removing the entire downpipe could cause water damage to the foundations of the house resulting in both a potential loss and an inconvenience to the Adjoining Owner, hence would be at odds with the requirement that works be undertaken in a manner that mitigates such issues to the Adjoining Owner. Instead of designing around this e.g., by having the downpipe cut at roof level and drain onto the new rear extension roof, the Building Owner opted to simply offset the proposed extension flank wall from the boundary line to avoid interfering with the downpipe. We did not advise this as the best solution but this was the Building Owner's decision.