Preparing your own party wall notices, or asking your builder to prepare them for you, might seem like an easy way of keeping your project costs down, but in most cases, it isn’t the best approach.
Having served many party wall notices, in our experience, the majority of ‘self-served’ notices are invalid.
Where we discover that a ‘self-served’ party wall notice is invalid, it’s not the end of the world, but it does mean that it needs to be corrected and served again.
The knock-on effect of this can be project delays and additional costs.
Typical mistakes we see, include:
Undated notices;
Misleading descriptions;
Wrong names and addresses; and
Insufficient details on proposed works.
A less considered impact of serving notices yourself, is that quite often these notices look poorly prepared having been obtained from the internet.
This can set the alarm bells ringing for neighbours who are on the other end of these notices.
Commissioning the services of a RICS Chartered Surveyor is therefore recommended. A Chartered Surveyor will ensure your party wall notice is professionally drafted as they will have the technical and legal know-how related to the proposed works.
If you would like us to review your proposals, please call us on 0203 951 1032.
This article covers one part of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. For the full picture, including notices, awards, timescales and disputes, read The Party Wall Act Explained: A Complete Guide for London Homeowners.
“Every property tells a story. My job is to read it accurately and explain what it means for you, in plain English.”
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