THE GRAND ARCADE

Cambridge

Building Surveying

Party Wall Act

The Party Wall Act 1996 places developers under a legal duty to appoint an independent Party Wall Surveyor. Notices are served on adjoining owners and they have the right to appoint an additional independent surveyor at the developer's cost. The surveyor or surveyors have a duty to work towards balanced outcomes. They will agree the design and cost process with the landlord’s professionals (architects engineers etc) and inspect the work to ensure that adjoining owners are protected.

We were appointed Party Wall Surveyors, under the Party Wall Act 1996, by the Grand Arcade Partnership at an early stage in the development process. The Partnership, which consists of Grosvenor Estates, Cambridge City Council and University Superannuation Scheme (USS), have constructed one of the largest retail schemes within the Eastern Counties in the main shopping area in the centre of Cambridge. The project was completed in Spring 2008. 

Negotiations and management of adjoining owners’ issues was a sensitive and important aspect of the scheme. The majority of adjacent owners had to be served statutory notices, have second surveyor appointments confirmed and pairs of surveyors then had to inspect and record the condition of neighbouring properties both before and after the works.

In each case, the law provides for the appointment of a third party surveyor and it was a mark of the sensitive handling of the multiple property interests that no third party intervention was required.