Cases - Manu v Euroview Estates Ltd

Record details

Name
Manu v Euroview Estates Ltd
Date
[2008]
Citation
1 EGLR 165
Legislation
Keywords
Party walls - appointment of a surveyor can be made before servicing a notice - waive a defect in a notice by accepting to act as if the notice were valid
Summary

Although only a county court decision, this case is notable for 2 findings:

  1. An appointment of a surveyor under section 10 can be made before service of a Party Wall Act notice, such appointment taking effect under the Act only as and when a dispute arises or is deemed to have arisen under the Act.
  2. A party wall surveyor can waive a defect in a notice by accepting to act as if the notice were valid, or estop themselves or their client from asserting the invalidity of the notice by their client’s actions thereafter.

On the second of these points the judgement stated that:

‘any points that are to be taken concerning the alleged inaccuracies of a notice served by a party are expected to be taken promptly, as soon as they are apparent. It will not therefore take much for a party to be taken to have waived a right to rely upon some deficiency in the notice.’