The Party Wall Casebook PDF
Preview The Party Wall Casebook
The Party Wall Casebook Paul Chynoweth BSc, LLB, Solicitor Foreword by The Earl of Lytton #PaulChynoweth2003 Firstpublished2003 BlackwellPublishingLtd Acataloguerecordforthistitleisavailablefrom EditorialOffices: theBritishLibrary 9600GarsingtonRoad,OxfordOX42DQ,UK Tel:01865776868 ISBN1-4051-0022-2 108CowleyRoad,OxfordOX41JF,UK Tel:+44(0)1865791100 LibraryofCongress BlackwellPublishingUSA,350MainStreet, Cataloging-in-PublicationData Malden,MA02148-5018,USA Chynoweth,Paul. Tel:+17813888250 Thepartywallcasebook/PaulChynoweth. IowaStatePress,aBlackwellPublishing p.cm. Company,2121StateAvenue,Ames,Iowa Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. 50014-8300,USA ISBN1-4051-0022-2(Hardback:alk.paper) Tel:+15152920140 1.Partywalls–GreatBritain. 2.Construction BlackwellMunksgaard,1RosenørnsAlle´,P.O. contracts–GreatBritain.I.Title. Box227,DK-1502CopenhagenV,Denmark Tel:+4577333333 KD921.C492003 BlackwellPublishingAsiaPtyLtd,550Swanston 343.41’078624–dc21 Street,CarltonSouth,Victoria3053,Australia 2003005475 Tel:+61(0)393470300 BlackwellVerlag,Kurfu¨rstendamm57,10707 Setin11/121Sabon 2 Berlin,Germany byDPPhotosetting,Aylesbury,Bucks Tel:+49(0)303279060 PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby BlackwellPublishing,10rueCasimirDelavigne, MPGBooksLtd,Bodmin,Cornwall 75006Paris,France Tel:+33153103310 Forfurtherinformationon BlackwellPublishing,visitourwebsite: TherightoftheAuthortobeidentifiedasthe www.blackwellpublishing.com AuthorofthisWorkhasbeenassertedin accordancewiththeCopyright,Designsand PatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublication maybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise,exceptaspermittedbytheUK Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988, withoutthepriorpermissionofthepublisher. Contents Foreword by the Earl of Lytton vii Preface viii Abbreviations x An Introduction to Party Wall Case Law 1 Digest of Cases 21 Adams v Marylebone Borough Council (1907) 23 Alcock v Wraith and Swinhoe (1991) 34 Andreae v Selfridge & Company Ltd (1937) 40 Apostal v Simons (1936) 47 Barry v Minturn (1913) 52 Bennett v Harrod’s Stores Ltd (1907) 58 Bond v Nottingham Corporation (1940) 61 Bower v Peate (1876) 64 Brace v South East Regional Housing Association Ltd (1984) 69 Bradburn v Lindsay (1983) 75 Burlington Property Company Limited v Odeon Theatres Limited (1938) 80 Carlish v Salt (1906) 85 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy v Simmonds Church Smiles (1995) 88 Cowen v Phillips (1863) 94 Crofts v Haldane (1867) 97 Crosby v Alhambra Company Ltd (1907) 101 Cubitt v Porter (1828) 106 Dalton v Angus (1881) 110 Dodd v Holme (1834) 115 Drury v Army & Navy Auxiliary Co-operative Supply Ltd (1896) 119 Emms v Polya (1973) 125 Fillingham v Wood (1891) 128 Frances Holland School v Wassef (2001) 134 Frederick Betts Ltd v Pickfords Ltd (1906) 143 Gyle-Thompson and Others v Wall Street (Properties) Ltd (1974) 151 Hobbs, Hart & Co v Grover (1899) 161 iv Contents Holbeck Hall Hotel Ltd v Scarborough Borough Council (2000) 163 Hughes v Percival (1883) 169 J. Jarvis & Sons Ltd v Baker (1956) 175 Johnson (T/A Johnson Butchers) v BJW Property Developments Ltd (2002) 179 Johnston v Mayfair Property Company (1893) 186 Jolliffe v Woodhouse (1894) 190 Jones v Pritchard (1908) 194 Knight v Pursell (1879) 200 Leadbetter v Marylebone Corporation [No. 1] (1904) 204 Leadbetter v Marylebone Corporation [No. 2] (1905) 210 Leakey v National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty (1980) 214 Lehmann v Herman (1993) 219 Lemaitre v Davis (1881) 225 Lewis & Solome v Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway Company (1906) 229 List v Tharp (1897) 235 London & Manchester Assurance Company Ltd v O & H Construction Ltd (1989) 239 London, Gloucester & North Hants Dairy Company v Morley & Lanceley (1911) 243 Loost v Kremer (1997) 249 Louis v Sadiq (1997) 257 Major v Park Lane Company (1866) 263 Marchant v Capital & Counties plc (1983) 266 Mason v Fulham Corporation (1910) 271 Matania v National Provincial Bank Ltd and The Elevenist Syndicate Ltd (1936) 276 Matts v Hawkins (1813) 284 Metropolitan Building Act ex parte McBride, Re (1876) 287 Midland Bank plc v Bardgrove Property Services Ltd and John Willmott (WB) Ltd (1992) 292 Moss v Smith (1977) 295 Observatory Hill Ltd v Camtel Investments SA (1997) 300 Orf v Payton (1905) 304 Phipps v Pears (1964) 307 Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v Waterloo Real Estate Inc (1999) 311 Ray v Fairway Motors (Barnstable) Ltd (1968) 317 Reading v Barnard (1827) 324 Rees v Skerrett (2001) 328 Riley Gowler Ltd v National Heart Hospital Board of Governors (1969) 336 Sack v Jones (1925) 340 Saunders v Williams (2002) 344 Contents v Selby v Whitbread & Co (1917) 347 Sims v The Estates Company (1866) 359 Solomons v R. Gertzenstein Ltd (1954) 364 Southwark & Vauxhall Water Company v Wandsworth District Board of Works (1898) 371 Spiers & Son Ltd v Troup (1915) 374 Standard Bank of British South America v Stokes (1878) 382 Stone and Hastie, Re (1903) 389 Thompson v Hill (1870) 394 Thornton v Hunter (1898) 398 Upjohn v Seymour Estates Ltd (1938) 402 Video London Sound Studios Ltd v Asticus (GMS) Ltd and Keltbray Demolition Ltd (2001) 406 Watson v Gray (1880) 414 Weston v Arnold (1873) 419 White v Peto Brothers (1888) 423 Whitefleet Properties Ltd v St Pancras Building Society (1956) 427 Williams v Bull (1890) 432 Wiltshire v Sidford (1827) 438 Woodhouse v Consolidated Property Corporation Ltd (1993) 442 Appendix: Party Wall etc. Act 1996 447 Glossary 466 Table of Cases 472 Table of Statutory Extracts 480 Subject Index 482 Foreword Theextentofpropertyboundariesandthemeansofestablishingworkable relationships between neighbouring owners in the built environment are atthecoreofmaintainingorderlyarrangementsforpropertytitle,valuein use and certainty as to the parameters of ownership. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 addresses these issues, which lie at the heart of one of the most efficient and cohesive property markets in the world, and builds on long and honourable past experience in its most dynamic arena, Central London. The Act will soon be celebrating its seventh birthday. Like all infants, the learning process has been a matter of increasing wisdom through experiencewithsometrialanderror.Themethodologyhasnowgrownup to the extent of needing some more serious education so I am delighted that this book has come from an author who is directly involved in the academic world. The philosophy of dealing with party walls inevitably raises new questions as well as providing answers to existing problems. No single textbookcanthereforehopetoprovideaone-hitsolutionandanyattempt todosowouldbeoutofdatebeforeitwasprinted.However,roundingup the available wisdom to be gleaned from past case law, together with guidance on its interpretation, is one of the great contributions that the academic world can give to the practitioner. In this new book Paul Chynoweth brings together not just a digest of cases but the particular legislative background in point and a diagram- matic representation of some of the key issues. Case law thus becomes immediately more accessible and comprehensible. I therefore welcome The Party Wall Casebook as a worthy and valuable addition to the growing body of knowledge and understanding in this area. The Earl of Lytton Preface Party wall procedures became a familiar part of the construction process withtheenactmentofthePartyWalletc.Act1996.Fromthatmomentthe statutory party wall code which had operated in London for over a cen- tury was extended to the whole of England and Wales. Surveyors, architects, engineers and lawyers outside the capital soon acquired the necessary familiarity with the statutory code for practice in this new field. They also soon acquired an understanding of its com- plexitiesandanappreciationofsomeoftheanomaliesthatlurkwithinit. Thewordsofthecodethemselvesdonotprovideacompleteaccountof the law in this area. When the Act passed into law it did so against a centuries-oldbackdropofcommonlawrules,manyof whichcontinueto apply. The meaning of the code itself has also been subjected to almost 150yearsofjudicialscrutinyduetoitspreviousincarnationinthevarious London Building Acts. Practitioners seeking answers to the code’s com- plexities and anomalies will therefore find many of these within the decided cases. Reference to the original law reports or judgments of these cases will oftenbeimpracticalforthebusypractitioner.Incommonwithotherareas of practice – for example dilapidations or contract procedures – a ready source of reference to the key cases can often be all that is required to provide the necessary professional reassurance. In view of the long history of party wall practice in London it is therefore surprising that no such publication has previously been pub- lished. Although there are some excellent books on the general law and practiceofpartywallstherehasnever,totheauthor’sknowledge,beena book dealing exclusively with party wall case law. This book aims to fill that gap in the practitioner’s library. It provides an alphabetical digest of over80partywallcases.Thisformatwasadopted,ratherthanattempting to order the cases according to subject matter, as many of them provide lessons in a number of areas. It was also felt that this format would provide quicker access to individual cases, and that this was particularly important for a practitioner’s reference book. If this has produced any lack of continuity it is hoped that this is more than compensated for by the inclusion of a detailed introductory chapter on party wall case law. This provides the reader with a summary of the law of party walls and places the digested cases in their proper context Preface ix within it. It is also hoped that this chapter will provide some food for thought,andaspringboardforfurtherstudy,forreaderswhoareseeking a more detailed understanding of the law in this area. Thebookisintendedtobeasself-containedaspossible.Forthisreason a copy of the 1996 Act is included as an appendix and extracts from the earlier London Building Acts, and other statutes, appear within the text. Anextensiveglossaryoflegalandpartywalltermshasalsobeenincluded. Party walls are, of course, a technical as well as a legal subject. I am thereforeindebtedtoBarryWalkerwhohasproducedthedrawingswhich illustrateandenlivenmanyofthecasesthroughoutthisbook.Igratefully acknowledge his help in enabling the book to speak the language of the constructionprofessional,aswellasthelawyer.Thanksarealsoduetothe many other people who have had an input into the production of the book. In particular my thanks go to Julia Burden, my publisher, for her patience and guidance as the book has slowly taken shape, and to Chris Waters for the opportunity to refine my understanding of the 1996 Act through working alongside his team at Hawley & Partners. I am also grateful to all those surveyors, lawyers and others who have, at varioustimesoverthepastsixyears,takenthetimetodebatethefiner points of party wall practice with me. At the risk of offending those not mentioned I would particularly like to thank Robin Ainsworth, Stephen Bickford-Smith, David Bowden, Aidan Cosgrave, Elizabeth de Burgh Sidley, Lawrance Hurst, Donald Jessop, Sandra Laing, John Lytton, GrahamNorth,AlistairRedler,AlexSchatunowski,RosemarySilver,and Kaivin Wong in this regard. Despitethecontributionsofotherstheviewsexpressedinthebook,and anyerrors,areentirelymyown.Ihaveendeavouredtostatethelawasat1 March 2003. Paul Chynoweth University of Salford March 2003 Abbreviations Thefollowingabbreviationsareusedthroughoutthisbooktorefertothe currentpartywallstatuteandthevariousLondonBuildingActsonwhich its provisions are modelled: 1996 Act Party Wall etc. Act 1996 1939 Act London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939 1930 Act London Building Act 1930 1894 Act London Building Act 1894 1855 Act Metropolitan Building Act 1855 1774 Act ‘‘London Building Act’’ of 1774 (although the Act had no official short title) A I N NTRODUCTION TO P W C L ARTY ALL ASE AW
The list of books you might like
