Construction

Party Wall Use by Neighbor

My neighbor has starting building an additional floor on his brownstone. He has used the entire party wall between our properties without obtaining permission from me or any court proceeding. He obviously is on my property to do this work, again without any permission from me. I have complained and the builder basically says “Why…

by mhomeowner
04/16/2010

My neighbor has starting building an additional floor on his brownstone. He has used the entire party wall between our properties without obtaining permission from me or any court proceeding. He obviously is on my property to do this work, again without any permission from me. I have complained and the builder basically says “Why are you bothering me?” This can’t be legal or allowed or is it? Anyone with similar experience or expertise?

Construction

Comments

  1. The laws concerning the above are as follows:

    Sometimes on the deed it states that there is an easement and sometimes not.

    If there is no easement then the DOB may a lot of times approve the plan but the neighbor must get an easement agreement approved otherwise they will need to hammer out an 8811 in court.

    While structural integrity is an issue it dpes still not mandate someone to let his neighbor built on his property without his consent. If you want, call dob and have fun

  3. Call 311 and have them send out a DOB inspector.

    It sounds as though it could affect the stability of your structure long term. Though, even if DOB gives a stop work order, it can takes years of legal activities before anything can be done to right any wrong problem.

    Google search “Bay Ridge Spite Wall” and you’ll see someone who has had a neighbor illegally attach a new structure to their home. Years of a headache…

  4. The neighbor cannot build on myhomeowner’s half of the party wall. There should be an aggrement in place. Otherwise, the structural engineer would have designed a beam to transfer the load back into the party wall without building on top of full width. They last time we did it the neighbor agreed to allow the walls use and my property owner agreed to cover any damage during construction.

    Jock deBoer, AIA
    deBoer Architects

  5. I would think you would need to notify adjacent owner – but not sure under which type of alterations require this.
    Definitely check for permits and I would also talk to architect or someone to make sure it is being done right and won’t cause damage to you (as in water runoff, flashing, etc)…
    You did not mention chimney – so assuming that is not along that wall. If it were – they would be responsible to extend height of yours up to top level of their house.

  6. You don’t need permission from the adjoining property owner to extend a party wall for a vertical extension. Either there are approved plans or there aren’t – look up the address on the dob website and find out what was approved. Is there a permit posted? Talking to the neighbor before you build is a good idea for a lot of reasons, but not required, so just do your research and protect yourself – but don’t assume they are violating any code before you check it out.

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