“Service of a surveyor’s award sent by post, pursuant to section 15(1) of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 (PWA), was effected when the award was consigned to the post”.
The High Court decision will now affect any party in receipt of a party wall award who intends to appeal that award.
The question at the heart of Freetown v Assethold concerned when the 14-day period for making an appeal began running under section 10(17). Slade J considered that the analysis under the PWA 1996 should be identical to that under a similar provision in section 23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927(LTA 1927). In the case of Webber (Transport) Ltd v Railtrack plc [2004] 1 WLR 320, the Court of Appeal held that section 23 deemed a document served by one of the stipulated methods on the date it was sent and not on the date it was received.
The court held that the construction of section 15 could not be properly distinguished. In particular, it was persuaded by the fact that section 15 specified sending by post as a primary method of service. Consequently, the appellant's appeal of the party wall award was made out of time and the appeal before was dismissed.
Given that it is now clear that the 14-day period for lodging an appeal begins on the date on which the award is “consigned to the post”, it will therefore be imperative for a party to act quickly.
Read the full WLR case report here.
Freetown Ltd v Assethold Ltd - [2012] EWHC 1351 (QB); [2012] WLR (D) 162
| Court: | Queen's Bench Division |
| Judge: | Slade J |
| Representation | Lawrence Power (instructed by The Chancery Partnership) for the appellant. |
| David Nicholls (instructed by Greenwood & Co) for the respondent. | |
| Judgment Dates | 21 May 2012 |