Regulation of Buildings Act 1763
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
(4 Geo. 3) C A P. XIV.
'WHEREAS so much of the Act, passed in the eleventh Year of the Reign of his late Majesty KingGeorge the First, intituled, An Act for the better regulating of Buildings; and to prevent Mischiefsthat may happen by Fire within the Weekly Bills of Mortality, and other Places therein mentioned ; as relates to pulling down or rebuilding of Partitions or Party Walls, between House and House, is confined to Cases where one of the Houses is to be erected or built; and it may happen, that Party Walls within the said City and Liberty of Westminster , and the Parishes, Precincts, and Places comprised within the Weekly Bills of Mortality, and within the several Parishes of Saint Mary Le Bone and Paddington , and within the Parishes of Chelsea and Saint Pancras , or either of them, in the County of Middlesex (except the City of London , and the Liberties thereof; and also, except Houses on London Bridge , and on the River Thames below Bridge), may be so far out of Repair, as to render it necessary to pull down and rebuild the same, although neither of the adjoining Houses, to which such Party Walls belong, require to be rebuilt; and it may happen, that Party Walls, within the Limits aforesaid, may be so far defective and bad, by falling out of the Perpendicular, as to become unsafe for the Builder of the next adjoining House to rest Timbers thereupon, or oblige such Builder to run or place his Timbers quite through such defective Party Walls, in order to preserve their just Lengths, whereby Fire may be more readily communicated from House to House, contrary to the Intent of the said Act: And whereas the Workmen appointed, by virtue of the said recited Act, to examine Party Walls, are often equally divided in Opinion about the Necessity of pulling down and rebuilding such Party Walls, whereby a Certificate from the major Part of such Workmen, as by the said recited Act is required, cannot be obtained, and the Purposes of the said Act, in many Instances, have been evaded;' Wherefore, may it therefore please your most ExcellentMajesty, that it may be enacted; and Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That so much of the said recited Act as relates to Party Walls within the said City and Liberty ofWestminster , or any Parish, Precinct or Place comprised within the Weekly Bills of Mortality, or within the several Parishes of Saint Mary le Bone and Padddington , or within the Parishes of Chelsea and Saint Pancras , or either of them, in the County of Middlesex , (except the City of London , and the Liberties thereof; and also, except the Party Walls of Houses on the River of Thames below Bridge), shall, from and after the passing of this present Act, extend, and be construed, deemed, and taken to extend, to all Cases whatsoever within the said City and Liberty ofWestminster , and the several Parishes, Precincts and Limits aforesaid, where it is or shall be necessary to pull down and rebuild any Party Wall, whether either of the adjoining Houses shall or shall not be, or require to be, rebuilt, or new built.
II Where a Majority of the Workmen, appointed in pursuance of the recited Act to view any Party Wall to be pulled down, shall not sign a Certificate, as required,
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the passing of this present Act, in case the major Part of the Workmen appointed, in manner by the said recited Act prescribed, to view the Party Wall of any House or Houses within the said City ofWestminster , and the several Parishes, Precincts and Limits aforesaid, intended to be pulled down, shall not, within the Space of one Calendar Month next after such Appointment, sign a Certificate in Writing, as by the said Act is required; then, and in every such Case, it shall and may be lawful to and for any two or more of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the City or County, residing within or near the Parish, Liberty or Precinct, where the House or Houses, having such Party Wall or Walls intended to be pulled down, shall stand, and such two or more Justices are hereby authorized and required, upon Application to them for that Purpose made, by the Owner or Occupier of either of the Houses between which the Party Wall, so proposed to be pulled down, shall be, to name and appoint one other able Workman, to be added to the Workmen appointed by virtue or in pursuance of the said recited Act; and the Workmen so appointed by virtue and in pursuance of the said former Act, and of this present Act, or the major Part of them, who shall meet for that Purpose (ten Days Notice having been given to, or lest at the Dwelling-house of, each and every of them, of such intended Meeting), shall view the Party Wall so proposed to be pulled down; and in case the major Partof such Workmen shall certify in Writing, under their Hands, that such Party Wall is defective and bad, and ought to be pulled down, then, and in such Case, it shall and may be lawful to and for the Owner or Occupier of either of the said adjoining Houses, to cause such Party Wall to be pulled down and rebuilt; and he or she shall have such Remedy for recovering a Moiety of the Expences thereof, as in and by the said recited Act is given or provided; subject nevertheless to such Appeal to, and Determination by, the Justices of the Peace, as by the same Act is directed.
'III. And whereas it would tend greatly to prevent the fatal Consequences of Fire spreading and communicating to adjoining Houses, within the said City, Parishes, Precincts, and other the Limits aforesaid, if Party Walls between House and House, within the same, were to be made of greater Thickness than is prescribed by the Act passed in the seventh Year of the Reign of her late MajestyQueenAnne , intituled, An Act for making more effectual an Act made in the sixth Year of her said Majesty's Reign, for the better preventing of Mischiefs that may happen by Fire ; and if no Timbers, except the Timbers of the Girders, Binding Joists, and the Templets under the same, were laid into the Party Walls; and if no Timbers of the Roof be laid into such Party Walls (except the Purloins or Kerb thereof), and if the Ends of the Girders or Binding Joists, lying within the said Party Walls, did not exceed one Foot; and if none of the Ends of the Girders or Binding Joists, in adjoining Houses, met, or were laid opposite to each other, and the Sides thereof were laid at least fourteen Inches distant from each other; and if there should be nine Inches, at least, of solid Brick-work lest at or between the Ends of all Lentils, Wall Plates, and Bond Timbers, which may or shall be laid in or upon the Walls of the Fore and Back Fronts of all Houses which shall adjoin to each other;' Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all Party Wallswhich, from and after the Expiration of three Calendar Months next after the passing of this Act, shall be erected or built within the said City or Liberty ofWestminster , and the Parishes, Precincts and Limits aforesaid, shall be two Bricks and an half thick at the least in the Cellar, and two Bricks thick upwards to the Garret Floor, and from thence one Brick and an half thick at least eighteen Inches above the...
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