Party Wall etc. Act

A floor between separately owned parts of a building. This includes a staircase to an upper part, in different ownership to the part over which it passes. It also includes a floor above a passageway owned by others.
It extends over the whole of the floor area, and includes upper and lower surfaces as well as the core, but excludes suspended ceilings.

Materials and methods of construction include:-

 

• timber joists, with timber or composite boarding to the upper surface and plasterboard (lath & plaster in older properties) to the lower surface;

 

• screeded beam and block, with screed to the upper surface and plaster to the lower surface (may be omitted if suspended ceiling is used);

 

• in-situ concrete, with screed to the upper surface and plaster to the lower surface (may be omitted if a suspended ceiling is used);

 

• steel joists with in-situ concrete on steel decking to the upper surface, and plasterboard to the lower surface;

 

• In addition there may be acoustic insulation methods used which form part of the floor construction.

Materials and methods of support
A Party Floor may be supported on a masonry, or timber framed wall; or timber, steel, or concrete beams.
These walls and beams are supports from below which are, strictly speaking, 'underpinnings'.