Law and Building Surveying Report

This assignment requires students to write a professional report advising on legal issues faced by a client, Northumbria Developments Limited (NDL), in a student accommodation development project. Students must choose three out of six provided issues, analyze them, identify relevant legal principles, and provide recommendations. The issues involve neighbor disputes (daylight obstruction and tree root damage), construction delays, lease negotiations, and a potential negligence claim. The report must be referenced using the Harvard style and adhere to a 3000-word limit. The assignment assesses critical analysis, problem-solving, and communication skills, and is worth 50% of the module grade. The provided text includes the assignment brief, instructions, issues, assessment criteria, and referencing guidelines.

Coursework One: Professional Report
Module Information
Module Title: Law and Building Surveying Professional Practice, Law and Housing Professional
Practice, Law and Real Estate Professional Practice, Law and Quantity Surveying Professional Practice
Module Codes: KA7050, KA7051, KA7052 and KA7053
Academic Year: 2016/17
Assignment Brief
Clear statement of the work that students are expected to undertake:
You will be assessed on the basis of advice to your supervisor on the problems outlined below. Your
advice should take the form of an internal professional report.
Instructions to students:
You work in a multi-disciplinary surveying practice. Your supervisor, Tony Jackson has just received
an email from one of the firm’s clients, Alan Jones of Northumbria Developments Limited (‘NDL’).
NDL owns a site in Newcastle upon Tyne which is being developed to create new student
accommodation. NDL have entered into a building contract for phase one of the scheme with
Clipper Ltd which is due to complete on 1 May 2017. Work has yet to commence for phases two and
three. NDL have encountered some problems about which they are seeking professional advice.
Tony has asked you to carry out some research into these issues so that he is fully briefed before
meeting with the client.
You must choose THREE of the following issues to consider within your submission.
Issue One
On the opposite side of the street to Phase One of the scheme there is another development
ongoing consisting of the conversion of warehouses into luxury apartments. The owner of that site
has complained that the apartment block that has been constructed on NDL’s land has affected the
daylight the warehouse buildings enjoy.
Issue Two
Although there has been no formal communication from Clipper the project manager for Phase One
has intimated to Alan that the build is running approximately six weeks late. Alan is very concerned

about this as some prospective tenants of the studios want to see the completed units before they
sign leases for next academic year. If the work is not completed in May then a significant proportion
of students will have returned to their family homes and it will be much harder to let the property.
The contract includes a liquidated damages provision providing that NDL can recover £30,000 for
every week that the project is late.
Issue Three
When NDL purchased the site they were advised by the seller that they had not experienced any
problems with neighbouring owners. NDL has now however, received a letter before action from a
neighbouring land owner who is threatening to bring a private nuisance claim against NDL in relation
to damage caused to the foundations of their building by the roots of a tree which is on NDL’s
property. It appears that they have complained about this problem in the past to the previous
owner. For Issue Three you need to only advise on the remedies that NDL may have against the
seller (and not on the private nuisance claim).
Issue Four
When NDL purchased the site they were advised by the seller that they had not experienced any
problems with neighbouring owners. NDL has now however, received a letter before action from a
neighbouring land owner who is threatening to bring a private nuisance claim against NDL in relation
to damage caused to the foundations of their building by the roots of a tree which is on NDL’s
property. It appears that they have complained about this problem in the past to the previous
owner. For Issue Four you need to only advise on the threatened private nuisance claim (and not on
any remedies against the seller).
Issue Five
Part of the land in Phase Three is occupied by a car park operator whose lease is due to expire on 1
March 2017. The tenant has just served a section 26 notice on NDL requesting a new five year lease.
Vacant possession of the land comprised in the lease will not be required until the autumn of 2017.
Issue Six
NDL recently instructed George Harrison MRICS to carry out a survey of one of the vacant
warehouses in Phase Three. Whilst carrying out the survey George fell down a set of concrete stairs
which had no handrail. George sustained significant injuries and is now threatening to sue NDL.

Additional Instructions to students:
This is an individual piece of work.
In practice such a professional report would not normally be referenced but for the purposes of this
assignment the submission must be fully referenced in the Harvard style and a bibliography must be
included. (Please see Cite them Right for further details on referencing).
Further Information:
Learning Outcomes assessed in this assessment:
MLO1: Critically analyse a legal issue, identify and apply relevant legal principles and make
appropriate recommendations
MLO3: Critically analyse information, identify solutions, demonstrate judgement and communicate
findings.
MLO4: Apply complex technical and professional practices
.Assessment Criteria/Mark Scheme:
Clear introduction of the issues and framework for the advice 10%
Analysis of the problems (for the three issues) and identification of
the relevant legal principles
20%
Explanation of the key legal principles applicable to the scenarios
including reference to relevant case law and legislation
50%
Recommendations about what actions to take next 10%
Referencing, presentation and writing style (including layout, use of
paragraphs, spelling and grammar)
10%
Referencing Style: APA 6th edition or Harvard
Expected size of the submission:
3,000 words - everything other than your end reference list/ bibliography counts towards the word
limit.

You MUST clearly and accurately state the word length of your work on the standard front cover
sheet. If you deliberately provide a false word length, this will be treated as academic misconduct
under the University regulations.
The penalties for exceeding this limit:
Up to 10% over limit no penalty
11-20% over limit 10% deducted
21-30% over limit 20% deducted
31-40% over limit 30% deducted
41-50% over limit 40% deducted
50%+ over limit 100% deducted
Assignment weighting: This assignment is worth 50% of the module marks