Shared wall of my terraced house

Lindyloolah

I own a 19th century mid-terraced house, and the owner of the adjoining property has planning permission granted to demolish the existing dwelling and build a terrace of three townhouses. The problem is, his current property sits a couple of metres higher than mine, on solid rock. Therefore he will be demolishing his house and using a rock-breaker to remove the rock, before commencing the build. He obtained planning permission before I bought the house in 2008 so I had no opportunity to object. As my house is built of local stone and mortar, I am concerned about any potential damage the rockbreaker may cause. What should I do at this stage? Comments/advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

DOCARCH

Just to say that it is possible to break up rock without the use of a rock breaker. It is possible to break up rock using chemicals - the rock is drilled, chemicals injected and the rock shatters - this would be the method that would usually be (or should be) used on a confined site.

The 'developer' has a civil obligation to you not to damage your house during the build. You really need to enter into a dilogue with the developer to see what their plans are and find out how they are going to break up the rock and also discuss how they are going try and reduce/negate any potential impact on you and your house.

You should also ask that a dilapidation survey be carried out of your house prior to any work commencing so that the state of your existing house is recorded so that if there is any damage as a result of the building works next door there should be no argumnents as to the cause (and any damage should be put right by the developer).

Lindyloolah

thank you DOCARCH for your helpful advice. I thought it would be appropriate to talk with the developer face to face, but you have pointed out several issues which I would not have known about. I am most grateful.

Will23

it would also be worth asking the developer if he/she has taken out non-negligence insurance, which would be used to pay for any damages caused to adjoining properties as a result the works to his property.

This would be highly recommended in the scenario above. If he/she cannot pay for the damage to your property, it will leave you in the lurch, and the insurance company should pay out to rectify the damage. In suggesting it to him, he/she may realise the risks involved and take it out. (this may be naive, but worth a shot!)

If he/she has an architect, the requirement for such insurance should have been advised to him/her in any case. However it must be noted it is more in his interest than yours to have this cover, but it would provide you with some level of comfort that issues would be dealt with if they arise.

Hope this helps.

Will.

DOCARCH

Will23 wrote: »

it would also be worth asking the developer if he/she has taken out non-negligence insurance.

+1 to this. If I was the architect/engineer advising the developer - I would be advising them to consider taking out this insurance.

Lindyloolah

thanks for your comments guys, will bring this up when I meet with him. Thanks for posting.