What is meant by ‘Party Wall Compliant Drawings’?

The core requirements to producing Party Wall compliant drawings are that they are sufficiently detailed that:

a) They satisfy all the legal requirements of the Party Wall Act.

b) When served on neighbours alongside a Notice, they show in sufficient detail all the works that need to be notified.

c) They address all the ‘weak points’ in the design as they pertain to the neighbouring property. E.g., it includes relevant cross sections where such detailed drawings are necessary. The drawings are guaranteed to be compliant, so in the unlikely event that a Party Wall Surveyor later requests any further amendment or addition to the drawings, these will provide these promptly and without any further cost.

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As the above indicates, ensuring that drawings are Party Wall compliant requires that consideration be given to the specific works and how they could affect neighbouring structures. There is no ‘one size fits all’ in this approach and it takes a certain level of expertise in Party Wall matters in order to anticipate the relevant drawing details to include on the drawings.

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Party Wall Compliant Drawings in terms of Foundations and Structure:

 

Party Wall compliant drawings generally have to be detailed and comprehensive both in regards to the foundations and in relation to the structure. 

The below example shows a flashing detail between a new ground floor rear extensions (to the right of the drawing) and the neighbour's existing extension (to the left of the drawing). The purpose of including the flashing detail was to prevent water and airborne debris from becoming stuck between the two extensions which could otherwise result in damage the buildings.