House next door is about to be underpinned - what steps,legal or otherwise, should we take to prevent any damage to our property?
johnboy
probably caused by a large tree on the pavement outside. The house is
owned by a housing association and the current tenant has told us that
he will have to move out as it will be underpinned shortly.
I've spoken to the surveyor for the housing association and she has
said they are waiting for the insurance company to tell them what work
needs to be done and when it will start. Presumably the insurance
company will appoint the company to do the underpinning.
We are not connected to this house, there is a shared alleyway in
between. However I am concerned that any digging etc may cause damage
to our property.
Should I seek legal advice?
JimK
years ago a mate ended up in the sh1t for months beacuse of something
similar (pile driving) abt 50yards (unconnected) from his end of
terrace.. took him ages to get something sorted after involving
insurance co. etc who appointed a surveyor who fixed little "targets"
to various points on his external walls and then measured em
(theodolite etc) regularly until the construction was completed - then
ins co. coughed for repairs etc - but what a pisser!
So either wait til damage then get on the phone pronto to your
insurers
or
proactive (and £££) enagage your own surveyor and see what they
advise?
Cheers
JimK
jgharston
> We are not connected to this house, there is a shared alleyway in
> between. However I am concerned that any digging etc may cause damage
> to our property.
> Should I seek legal advice?
They have a right to cross your land to perform works, however, they
need your permission to cross your land. If you refuse permission,
they can ultimately go to court to force you.
They are required to reinstate any damage to your land and anything
on your land to the previous condition.
More than that I'd recommend a chat with a CAB or ask in
uk.legal.moderated
JGH
Peter Crosland
news:d83b10dc-4705-41ba...@k19g2000yqc.googlegroups.com...
Speak to the surveyor again and just ask for reassurance from them. They may
need access to your property to do the work which they can, if need be, get
a court order to allow this and you would have to pay the costs of it. Far
better to do it come to an amicable agreement.
Peter Crosland
GB
> Speak to the surveyor again and just ask for reassurance from them.
> They may need access to your property to do the work which they can,
> if need be, get a court order to allow this and you would have to pay
> the costs of it. Far better to do it come to an amicable agreement.
The OP should look up party wall legislation. This applies in some
circumstances even when there is no party wall! Depends how close the other
property is, etc. Here's a linky to get you started:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/partywall
johnboy
I don't have any objection to them using the shared alleyway,
obviously blocking it might be an issue and digging it up certainly
would be.
My main concern is I'll end up with cracks/damage in our property
caused by the digging and I won't have any way of proving they weren't
there already.
airsmoothed
> johnboy <jgkg...@hotmail.com>
> wibbled on Friday 29 January 2010 17:29
> instate a surveyor at their expense ahead of works?
>
> It would certainly make it much easier for them to prove that the works
> caused any problems in your house later, as they *will* be wanting to get
> their money back of the contractor's insurer...
>
> Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to grant access to the contractor if needed
> (as others have said, they have a right) but do agree with them that they
> will right any damage to your garden and take lots of photos in advance with
> dates on.
>
> --
> Tim Watts
>
> Managers, politicians and environmentalists: Nature's carbon buffer.
I think you either need to engage a surveyor now like JimK said to say
you haven't got any cracks ( rough guess 200 - 300 quid for a basic
inspection) or cheaper option take loads of photos of your house that
can be dated (today's newspaper in each image for example) so that you
have some degree of documentary proof that you don't have cracks now.
Cheaper but riskier.
Dave Osborne
Not necessarily riskier, particularly if photographs are accompanied by
notes of inspections regularly made in a diary. If your diary also keeps
a daily note of weather conditions (temperature, rainfall, ground frost)
and contractor activity, even better.
Also, if you have any existing cracks in your external rendering or
walls or around or above window lintels, take extensive photographs with
a ruler blu-tacked next to the crack to show its extent. Inside, for
cracks in plastered walls, you can draw a perpendicular line on the
crack at the end with a pencil, note the date next to the mark and then
take a photo. Inspect such marks regularly. You are looking for either
elongation of the crack, widening (or closing up) of the crack or
differential movement. If the cracks start moving, take photo's
regularly (daily if necessary).
Take lots of photographs before the contractor starts. You may wish to
contact your insurer before the contractor starts, but it is likely you
will only have a problem if you have cracks appearing out of nowhere or
if you have existing cracks which are changing. In this case, contact
your insurer again; the insurer will most likely engage a surveyor at
their expense. The insurer may also engage a soil analysis outfit to
sample and report on the soil around and under your foundations.
If you end up in arbitration or court, any documentary evidence you can
present will carry a great deal of weight with the adjudicators and will
be very difficult to rebut.
Tim Lamb
<d83b10dc-4705-41ba...@k19g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
johnboy <jgk...@hotmail.com> writes
A groundworks contractor I regularly employ specialises in hand digging
these underpin holes.
The technique he describes is to *dig* a roughly 1m2 hole using a normal
fork and spade for soft ground and a small compressed air gun fitted
with a spade bit for loosening harder soil. The initial dig is from
outside the premises with the original foundations being undermined once
the hole is deep enough. Concrete is poured to support the foundation.
Holes are dug and concreted at 1m intervals and then the intermediate
bits dug once the concrete has hardened.
There are rules in the building regs. limiting trench depth next to
existing foundations so you might have some concern if a line drawn at
45deg. from the bottom of your foundation intersects their pin holes.
This might be of particular concern if they use shuttering to restrict
the concrete pour and back fill their access holes with soft material.
>
>Should I seek legal advice?
beyond my pay grade:-)
regards
--
Tim Lamb