Would be great to hear from anyone who has experience of this kind of situation...
We are planning to extend the rear of our semi-detached house, which involves demolishing old outhouses and building a single storey extension along on a party wall.
Our neighbour's house and outhouses (which ajoins this wall) is in a very poor state of repair - severe damp, rotten/nailsick roof, crumbling cracked ceilings. It has had no real maintenance since it was built in the 1920s!
Although we have asked for a party wall agreement to be signed we are worried we would be liable for extensive repairs should our building work disturb any 'delicate' beams, walls etc.
We have said we will 'make good' any damage we may cause during the build but what is the definition between damage we cause and damage we reveal? Where does our responsibility end?
Currently our building work will cost in the region on £16k, if the neighbours house is as bad as we think it is and we get stuck for the repair bill we will be looking for another £12k, which we really can't afford.
To make things even more complicated the house is currently rented, the landlord lives abroad and has so far reused to repair the property, despite requests from the tenants for over 2 years (they are now moving out!). The agents are next to useless and have no authority to spend more than £50 without the landlord's permission.
Any advice on this 'muddy' situation would be greatly appreciated!
I don't know if this helps, but I remember when we gave out PW agreement letters, the wording was something like "we will make good any damage to the best of the surrounding existing work". From what you say, that wouldn't exactly cost you a lot of money!
Have you instructed an architect - if so, he must have come across similar situations and should be able to advise.
That seems like the best advice. Got to talk to neighbors, get photos/evidence, anything that records the current condition of the building so none of us have any surprises during the build!
Richard, assuming the landlord hasn't returned the PW letter with the 14 days yet, I'm sure the Act allows you to appoint a surveyor on his behalf - please check. (You can't assume that no signature indicates no objections). I personally think that using a PW surveyor would be money well spent in your case, because as part of the Award they have to draw up a Schedule of Conditions. This Schedule sets out the state of the buildings before works can commence. I think this would protect you against any fraudulent claims for damage that the landlord may try to make against you.
I also think it would be better to get a PW surveyor to do the checks (rather than just take photos, etc) as they will know exactly what danger signs to look for which may not be evident in a photo.
There's a very good Government website on the PW Act (sorry I don't have it to hand) which explains what you can and cannot do.
