Stace experience with the latest RICS Party Wall Legislation and Procedure guidance note

The 7th edition RICS guidance note ‘Party Wall Legislation and Procedure’ will lead to a more customer-focused delivery.

We were pleased to see that the latest guidance note from RICS has evolved with a particular emphasis on service delivery and encompasses guidance from recent case law. We believe the 7th edition allows for a more customer-focused delivery of Party Wall services.

The new 7th edition was formally published at the end of last year and has been effective for several months, allowing our dedicated Party Wall and Neighbourly Matters team time to work with the guidance note. The guidance note contains an in-depth section on professional conduct and a valuable refresh of the template documents.

Having attended the RICS roadshow events, Stace’s Party Wall and Neighbourly Matters team closely followed the preparation of the 7th edition RICS guidance note ‘Party Wall Legislation and Procedure’. As part of the consultation process, Stace provided valuable responses to RICS relating to the format of the party structure notice.

Stace has always adopted a clear approach to the presentation of notices that are served on owners. The preparation of a valid and accurate notice is an important start to a formal party wall process and can often make a complicated party wall matter simpler to understand for an adjoining owner and an adjoining owner’s surveyor.

The latest guidance note is an evolution of previous editions of the RICS guidance note, rather than a revolution to working practices. Our experience gained from Part VI of the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939 through to the Act suggests that the guidance note will assist surveyors at all levels of the profession.

The guidance assists surveyors appointed or selected under Section 10 of the Act to determine disputes in accordance with the Act more efficiently to the benefit of both building owners and adjoining owners.

Topics covered within the guidance note include:

• Nature and purpose of the Act
• Advising on the application of the Act
• Service of notices and responses
• Accepting appointments under the Act
• Powers and duties of the appointed surveyor
• Surveyor’s role in preparing the primary award
• Surveyor’s role subsequent to service of the primary award
• Role of the third surveyor
• Challenging the award and appeals to the county court

As with previous Party Wall Legislation and Procedure guidance notes, this is a starting point for how Stace provides valuable Party Wall services to the owners we represent.

2020 marks twenty-three years from when Stace worked on the first party wall matter under the Act. Over those twenty-three years, Stace has developed a skilled and devoted Party Wall and Neighbourly Matters team to see that owners benefit from the Party Wall Act to attend to disputes in an efficient manner.

If you require advice on party wall matters, please do not hesitate to contact: n.truelove@stace.co.uk