Following the very interesting Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors Forum webinar on Hart v Fidler, presented by barrister Howard Smith of Radcliffe Chambers, Lincoln’s Inn. I have gone back to the case papers, the judgment extracts, and the commentary, and I have tried to set out why this case matters for us, practising party wall surveyors who are being asked to award work that depends on temporary works being carried out correctly. The attraction of Hart v Fidler for those who

Boundary surveying is a specialist area of professional practice for identifying, analysing and recording the legal position of a properties boundary lines, it sits at the intersection of land law, historical conveyancing and physical construction, and it is frequently required where uncertainty, proposed development pressure or neighbour disputes may arise. In England and Wales, most registered land is held under the general boundaries rule, thus meaning that Land Registry t

Section 8 access rights under the Party Wall etc Act 1996 Section 8 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 gives a building owner and that owners contractors and professional advisers a statutory right during usual working hours to go onto adjoining land or premises where that access is genuinely and reasonably necessary in order to carry out works that are in pursuant of the Act, and it sets clear conditions for how that access must be exercised and how adjoining owners are to be p