How To Avoid Costly Neighbour Disputes

Building or extending a property can cause difficulties between neighbours and is a common cause for disputes that can create considerable stress for all parties, not to mention the potential for costly legal fees and insurance claims.

It’s often said that in order to test a relationship with your neighbours, submit a planning application!

Whilst a lot of disputes can be prevented by taking the time to speak to your neighbours prior to applying for planning permission, it’s when the building work starts when the the biggest difficulties arise.

Let’s face it, your building work is going to cause some inconvenience to your neighbours, so they’re going to have to be pretty understanding whilst your work is under way.

The stress of undertaking a building or extension project should not be underestimated and you should remember that your neighbours will also be affected by noise, dust, mess and inconvenience whilst your building works proceed.

When Things Go Wrong

What happens if a neighbour claims that your builders have somehow damaged their property?

This is more common than you might think.

Sometimes, the claim might be small and insignificant, but occasionally, it might be considerable.

We have seen numerous clients who have received claims from neighbours to replace entire roofs, walls, boundaries and driveways – and because they didn’t protect themselves beforehand, were unable to defend themselves properly and ended up paying for repoaris on their neighbour’s property.

For this reason, we strongly recommend that anyone undertaking a building project, has a schedule of condition carried out on their neighbour’s property prior to starting work.

Why You Should Use A Building Surveyor

You should use a building surveyor to conduct the condition survey, because they will know exactly where problems are likely to occur, taking into account the exact nature of the works being planned.

The survey involves drawing plans of the neighbouring property’s elevations and recording the condition of the external fabric including the roof.

Any defects that are noted, will be photographed and where necessary, quantified or measured.

In the event of your neighbour claiming that your builders or you have damaged their property, you will have full photographic evidence that will either refute their claim or confirm it – either way, it will save you and your insurers considerable sums of money.

Protect Against Malicious Claims

The schedule of condition or condition survey also protects against malicious claims and can of course, also be used to help you in any claim you might have against your builder for damage caused on your own property, if you have a survey conducted before work starts.

You do not have to be a planning client in order to use this service, though as you’d expect, our clients do receive discounted rates for using more than one service.

Don’t Forget The Builders!

Depending on the works you are having done, you might wish to consider a condition survey to help you in the event of difficulties with your builder.

Whilst most building projects go well, you can’t always guarantee a happy result – as evidenced by the countless numbers of television programmes about cowboy builders.

Occasionally, things go wrong for even the most experienced and professional builders – but who should pay?

If you can demonstrate, independently, that damage to your property did not exist before building work started, you could save your self considerable sums of money. The schedule of condition would be agreed and signed between you and your builder right at the start of the project, to avoid damage disputes that could possibly arise later.

Our condition surveys are competitively priced and are available in the following areas:

Birmingham, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, Hall Green, Acocks Green, Yardley Wood, Yardley, Wythall, Hollywood, Redditch and Lichfield – though our building surveyors may travel a little further if requested.

Typical Costs for external condition survey (depends on size and scope of survey)

Although prices will vary depending upon the scope of the survey, you should budget for around £300 per property.

Builders – protect your wallet and your reputation here.

Get A Price For A Condition Survey

Alternatively, Call David on 07800 790427.