Welcome back to ConstructionCast, Season 7! We kicked off our first episode of the season with a discussion on the The Party Wall Act.
The Party Wall Act came into force in 1997. It provides a framework to resolve construction related disputes between neighbouring properties. Wherever you sit in the construction process, at some point you’ve had to deal with works affecting neighbouring properties.
For this session, we were joined by Lord John Lytton, a Chartered Surveyor who took the Party Wall Act through all its Lord stages. As a Chartered Surveyor, he has first hand experience of the issues we discussed in the episode.
We were also joined by solicitor Dr. Laura Lintott. Dr. Lintott has recently completed her PhD thesis at the University of Cambridge. The thesis is spearheading a new contextual approach to party walls, which brings together different areas of law and fact. The aim is a more cost and time effective party wall dispute prevention, management and resolution strategies.
Limeslade director Annie Clift chaired this session. She asked the panel:
- How did the Act come about and what was its purpose?
- Does the Act resolve disputes?
- Who does the work currently and should they be accredited?
- How does mediation relate to the Act matter?
- What reforms to the Act do we expect to see in the future?
- What issues does the Act pose to those outside of the construction industry?
- How does the Act relate to construction projects?
We hope you enjoyed our first episode back. Many thanks to Lord John Lytton and Dr. Laura Lintott for their expert insights. You can find all details for previous and upcoming ConstructionCast episodes here.