Cases - Adams v Marylebone Borough Council

Record details

Name

Adams v Marylebone Borough Council

Date

[1907]

Citation

2 KB 822

Legislation

London Building Act 1894

Keywords

Party wall - compensation claim for loss of trade during work - compensation under spacific circumstances - surveyors power to award compensation

Summary

Marylebone raised a party wall, the details of which had been agreed by appointed surveyors. Mrs Adams, who owned a restaurant, claimed compensation for loss of trade during the work. The surveyors refused to deal with her claim on the basis that they had no jurisdiction over it. She appealed against the award.

The statute in force at the time, the London Building Act 1894, provided for compensation to be paid in a number of specific circumstances, such as where damage had been caused during the raising of a party wall. The court held that an adjoining owner had no general rights to compensation for works lawfully carried out under the Act, in the absence of a specific provision to that effect. The court agreed with the surveyors' decision that such a claim was outside the Act and beyond the jurisdiction of the surveyors.

It should be noted that section 7(2) of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 now contains a much wider right to compensation where loss or damage results 'by reason of any work executed in pursuant of this Act'.

Another feature of this case was the question of whether the surveyors had the power to award compensation for unnecessary inconvenience. The court held that surveyors were able to determine whether unnecessary inconvenience would be or had been caused, but that it was unclear whether the surveyors could award compensation resulting from works causing unnecessary inconvenience.