Structural & party wall

Two things stop more builds on the morning they were meant to start than anything else: a beam that has not been calculated, and a neighbour who has not been served notice.

Both are entirely avoidable, and both need to be dealt with weeks before the scaffold arrives.

Structural engineering

We coordinate structural design alongside the architectural drawings so the two agree. That sounds obvious; it is also the most common source of delay when the two are commissioned separately from firms who never speak.

What gets calculated

• Steel beams and columns — sizes, connections, padstones and bearing lengths
• Lateral restraint and stability of the remaining structure
• Foundation design, including depth, ground conditions and proximity to trees
• Underpinning where you are digging deeper than a neighbouring foundation
• Timber floor and roof member sizing
• Temporary works — how the building stands up while the wall is out
• Retaining structures for basements and split levels

Where it matters most

• Loft conversions. Existing ceiling joists are not a floor. New steels normally span between party walls to carry new floor joists clear of the old ceiling.
• Open-plan ground floors. Removing a spine wall or a rear wall means a beam, but also means proving the rest of the house is still restrained.
• Extensions near trees. Clay soils and mature trees drive foundation depth, and the figure is often much deeper than people budget for.
• Basements. Underpinning sequences, temporary propping and groundwater all need designing, not assuming.

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996

This is a legal duty, not a courtesy. If your work falls under the Act you must serve notice on the adjoining owner, and starting without doing so can bring an injunction and a claim for damages.

When notice is required

Notices must go to every adjoining owner, which includes freeholders and long leaseholders — often more people than you expect in a flat conversion.

What happens next

• Consent. The neighbour agrees in writing within 14 days and you proceed. Cheapest and fastest.
• Dissent. A dispute is deemed to arise. Surveyors are appointed — either one agreed surveyor, or one each — and they produce a party wall award setting out how the work may be done.
• No response. Silence after 14 days counts as dissent. Surveyors must be appointed anyway.

The schedule of condition

Before work begins, the surveyor records the condition of the neighbour's property in photographs. It protects both sides: it stops you being blamed for a crack that was already there, and it gives your neighbour a fair basis for a genuine claim.

What we do, and what we do not

We produce the drawings and structural information a party wall surveyor needs, we tell you which sections apply and when notice must go out, and we track the dates against the build programme so nothing starts early.

The award itself must be prepared by an appointed party wall surveyor, who has statutory duties to both owners and cannot be the building owner. We can refer you to surveyors we work with regularly.

Timescale