Percussive Tools on the Party Wall

If you have read a Party Wall Award before, you may have seen conditions about percussive tools—for example, restrictions on heavy breakers, impact drills, or demolition hammers, and a requirement to use hand tools in certain locations. Some building owners see these...

Filling Party Wall Foundations Within 12 Hours

If you have read a Party Wall Award before, you may have seen wording along the lines of:“Foundations are to be excavated and concreted (or otherwise filled) within 12 hours. If not, the excavation must be suitably supported.” Building owners sometimes see this and...

Party Wall “Hit and Miss“ Foundation Bays

If your project involves new foundations close to a neighbour’s building, you may hear a party wall surveyor refer to “foundation bays”, “hit and miss excavation”, or “sectional digging”. Building owners often dislike the idea because it can be slower and more costly...

Owners & Surveyors: Dealing With The Difficult!

Party wall matters are rarely “just paperwork”. They sit at the point where building work, property rights, and neighbour relationships meet. Even when a project is entirely reasonable, it can raise stress levels. For adjoining owners, there can be genuine concern:...

Getting Party Wall Awards Agreed

A Party Wall Award is often viewed as the “end of the party wall process”. In practice, it is the point at which the process either becomes efficient and controlled—or becomes slow, argumentative, and expensive. The difference is rarely the Act itself. The difference...