Party wall agreement

[mr_c]

Hi guys,

I am looking to do a ground floor rear extension and am a bit confused about whether I need a party wall agreement with my neighbour.

We are not doing any work to the wall that joins our buildings. We are building outwards and so there is no wall connecting and we are building slightly away from the boundary line.

Can anyone please advise if I need a party wall agreement

Thanks

[des8]

Although you are not building up to the boundary, a party wall agreement will be necessary if you will be excavating close to your neighbour’s property (within three or six meters, depending on the depth of the new foundations

[mr_c]

Hi thanks for your response.
my understanding is that we need it if we are building within 3 metres horizontally to a neighbours building. But as we are building outwards, there is no neighbour building horizontally next to the extension. Unless I have read that incorrectly.

[des8]

Sorry, but "building outwards" as opposed to "horizontally" means nothing without a diagram .

However Section 6 of the Party Wall Act covers adjacent excavations. It applies in practice if you are excavating within 3 metres of either a neighbouring or shared structure and to a greater depth than the base of the foundations to that structure (this is extended to 6 metres if your foundations are particularly deep – such as piled foundations).

[mr_c]

As in the area that we are extending into, there is no neighbouring building horizontally

6 - Adjacent excavation and construction.
(1) This section applies where—
(a) a building owner proposes to excavate, or excavate for and erect a building or structure, within a distance of three metres measured horizontally from any part of a building

[des8]

Well if your building is not within 3metres, there you go, (although it is 6 metres from a building on neighbouring land if your foundations are deeper than a line drawn at 45 degrees from the bottom of next door’s foundations).