It was a pleasure to feel part of the host team at HQ for Civil Engineering and appropriate that Lawrance Hurst of Hurst Peirce And Malcolm, most emminent  Chartered Structural and Civil Engineer of more than 50 years should provide the opening address to more than 200 Party Wall Surveyors, to recap on the history of the party wall legislation.

Various Structural matters arose throughout the day and we all felt for Ashley Patience who was true to his surname when the powerpoint projection failed to display a key diagram of some underpinning for a retro fit basement, of the sort shown in my various papers (see technical section of web site). This lead to an awkward discussion and time did not allow for the matters of the day to be teased out.

A couple of reoccuring points arose however, which Party Wall Surveyors might find useful as follows ( enter quote to state that this is the writers opinion only!)

a) When is a “foundation” a “foundation” (and not the soil beneath). Answer; when the soil is not strong enough to   support the weight of the wall and requires an artificial support. It is NOT either/or.

b) Can underpinning be the downward raising of a wall ! Quick aswer in my opinion NO. This was endorsed by Judge Akenhead in the 8th November 2011 Moot in the Technology and Construction Court, who advised that it is the task of digging a hole beneath someones property and placing concrete beneath it, that defines the task of constructing underpinning and not the geometry or it subsequent use or enclosure conditions.

c) Special Foundation raised their usual confusion and appeared to be misunderstood. The party Wall Act states that any part of a Special Foundation on neighbouring land requires the consent of the Adjoining owner.  The location of the steel reinforcing rods within the Special Foundation is irrelevant. The Moot concluded it is the engineering intent of the foundation system that determines whether it is a Special Foundation or not and not geometry or surplus mass concrete with no function. A reinforced stem of a combined underpinning and base slab is therefore reinforced underpinning and is not a wall.

I am a Chartered Structural Engineer with over thirty years experience in designing and surveying domestic and commercial buildings.  Within that period I have designed multi storey buildings, bridges and the refurbishment of both listed and domestic properties. 

 For the last twenty years I have been running my own consultancy, specialising in domestic building failures and surveying structures. 

 I act as an Expert Witness, an adviser on party wall matters and provide guidance and solutions on Insurance related domestic subsidence problems.

Given my love of all things ancient, I am also a voluntary surveyor for the National Trust and a member of SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings).

My passion is rugby and despite advancing years I am still optimistic about the England call up!

Regulations are likely to restrict properties to one basement level of construction and to require Planning permission rather than carry out such works under permitted development (PD).

This item was reported in new Civil Engineer journal on 23.02.12

The article, for engineers is a viewpoint or opinion article, relaying the experiences of working with many Party Wall Surveyors who wish that more engineers would be familiar with Party Wall procedures. The article concentrates on foundation and basement construction and the complex issues surrounding Special Foundations.

It highlights the central role that engineers play, in many party wall matters and specifically subteranean development.

The article suggests that the Institution Of Structural Engineers should establish a task group to provide specialist advice in this important area, both for engineers and to clients, developers and Party Wall Surveyors. Joint consultation should also be provided with regard to the proposed Subterranean Development Bill, which has had its second reading in the House Of Lords.