Posted By Crim Good morning everyone, I have an issue with a party wall that is in a fairly poor state and could come down during a construction operation which is starting on Monday next. The safest alternative we have is to demolish the wall and re-build but the leader of the local council is preventing this, probably for political reasons. The question is - does the local council leader now become a "Designer" under CDM 2007 and, if so, take on all of the Designer's duties under the Regs?

Posted By Crim Hi Granville, Thanks for the input, the neighbour has been consulted all the way through the process but has refused to budge. Planning permissions have been sought and approved for the work and every attempt possible has been made to get the other side to agree with replacing the wall. Ample time has been allowed but this is a final attempt by the CDM-C to get the council to agree. The question now is can we use CDM 2007 as an extra lever by including the counsellor as a Designer under the Regs. Regulation 2 (ACOP page 26) paragraphs (h) and (i) may come intp play here but I would like further input please.

Posted By Crim Hi Granville, Your final point is the way we are going unless we can demolish and rebuild. Steel uprights on concrete blocks is quite hazardous as the operatives have to work in close proximity to the wall. We just want to take away the hazard by removing the wall. I believe all options have been tried but the CDM-C thinks there may be a way of bringing the council into the equation using CDM 07?

Posted By Crim Steve, Thanks, We're going ahead with the work in the hope that we don't cause the wall to fall. We will provide steel uprights in concrete blocks, with additional safety of a shoring system, again using concrete as pad-stones. Lots of extra work but doing everything reasonably practicable to ensure safety.

Posted By Granville Jenkins Hi Crim Must admit I am not up to date on the revised CDM Regulations, but by coincidence I am on an training day tomorrow, which I hope will shed some light on the topic of this discussion. Regards Granville

Posted By Robert K Lewis Crim You have identified a significant risk to your operatives and must therefore ensure their safety whilst working in the area. I had a similar problem not tooo long ago where the owner refused even to allow his own party wall surveyor access to the interal area of the building to check for recent movement. The LA has the powers to order remediation and must therefore be used - this is why I reccomend the HSE involvement as they can be very persuasive at times with recalcitrant wall owners where safety of public/workers is threatened. It will backfire however if you are seen to be working or about to work in an area you have assessed as high risk. You are putting the operatives to work and must assess the risks and manage them adequately. If your own structural engineers feel the wall is unstable then all work may be too hazardous before the wall is stabilised or demolished - Hammering piling etc or any form of dig is out of the question until the issues are resolved. The condition of the wall should have been noted at the planning stage and suitable consents obtained, as the LA appears to be the owner this was even more vital to avoid the political football game. Your client potentially has a claim against their own advisers and I think your QS team need to look at the best means of obtaining a contractual delay on the basis that the site is not ready for occupancy. I personally think a 2-3 month delay could occur if the HSE are unable to bring a change of heart. Bob

Posted By Crim Good afternoon all, Thanks for all the responses, due to some excellent advice received in this thread we have formally invited a HSE Inspector to visit the site next week, before any work is carried out. I realise that we may now see the Inspector on more than one occasion, following the invitation, but see it as some quite heavy support to get things right first time every time during this project. I will keep you posted. Many thanks to all who contributed.

Posted By Granville Jenkins I would make one final comment - you may be able to register the wall as a dangerous structure with the local authority, I don't know a lot about the procedure for reporting the wall, but there is a fair bit of information from local authorities on the web (just type in 'dangerous structure notice' and then search for the local council site. It is likely that such an action will put the onus on the council to inspect and remedy any significant defects. The council doing nothing would not be an option! Good Luck! Regards Granville