"What's the Party Wall Act?", ask American readers. Well, it's a piece of British legislation from 1997 that says that if you're planning anything more than a bit of rewiring or redecoration at all close to a boundary between your place and your neighbours', then you need to inform them and give them a chance to complain. It was intended as a way for people to protect themselves in the case of excavation or major building work next door. But that's not how it's being used. According to this report, based on research by structural engineers Brewster Associates, it's being used as a weapon by hostile British neighbours who've already stored up enough artery-clogging levels of hatred (for late-night noise, barking dogs, assorted subtle social slights) that they're prepared to do whatever's necessary to make sure the people on the other side of the wall don't have a good day. By lodging a complaint needlessly delaying your neighbours' building work you can cost them huge inconvenience and extra financial burdens too. More than half of surveyors polled believed the act had become a hindrance to the process of completing minor alterations or extensions.