What is a dispute and do surveyors have continuing jurisdiction under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 following the service of their primary award?

Abstract

This paper tackles two related topics: what is a dispute and do surveyors have continuing jurisdiction? The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (the Act) does not define a dispute and this paper explores why and how this has proved to be problematic: that said, some definitions from eminent judges are identified. Linked to the definition of a dispute is whether the surveyors have continuing jurisdiction: the Act omits the specific wording contained in the 1894 and 1939 Acts, that is, the surveyors settling any matter from time to time during the continuance of any work to which the notice relates in dispute. Does this mean that the surveyors no longer have continuing jurisdiction? The author is indebted to HH Edward Bailey, who directed him to a careful reading of the second debate in the House of Lords during the drafting of the Act, which shows that there was never any express intention in the 1996 Act to change the existing state of the law. Lord Lytton, who introduced the Party Wall Bill,1 simply wanted to tidy up the language, but did he in the event change the law?2 The paper discusses recent court cases and conflicting opinions expressed by eminent lawyers that have produced some uncertainty. The aim of the paper is to show that, in the author’s opinion, the argument for the continuing jurisdiction of surveyors is compelling. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/ business/.