Do I need a party wall agreement? Maybe not…
Hiring a highly professional construction company can be beneficial in many ways. In houseUP we have a unique approach: our construction managers are also structural engineers with several years of construction site experience.
Many times we saw how houseUP approach prevented issues and saved costs for our clients, when at first sight a solution seemed impossible.
Who would think that a structural engineer can avoid a party wall dispute with neighbours?
The project: adding a storey to a five-storey terraced building
Our clients acquired a five storey terraced building, with blocks of flats on both sides of the building. The development plan included internal layout re-configuration, creation of additional space at the rear of the building and a loft conversion. At the end of the project, our client was going to rent out the 6 completed flats.
The work included the removal of structural walls and the creation of a new suspended timber floors. Those alterations required the installation of steel beams, usually placed on the party walls. Party walls are the easiest option and most commonly implemented because they don’t have openings, like doors or windows, as they separate adjacent buildings. The absence of any opening makes it very simple to design the placement of the beams and define the load distribution configuration.