The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 provides a legal framework to facilitate certain building works that affect shared walls or nearby structures while preventing and resolving disputes with adjoining owners. In simple terms, it balances a building owner’s right to alter their property against the neighboring owner’s right to avoid damage or undue inconvenience.
The Act applies to specific types of work:
Under the Act, notifiable works are chiefly those likely to affect the structural or boundary interests of a neighbour. The key sections of the Act define these as follows:
Note: If your work doesn’t fall into Section 1, 2, or 6, the Act may not apply. For instance, purely internal works within your own building (that don’t affect a party wall’s structure) or very superficial changes (like putting up shelves on your side of a party wall) typically are not notifiable. However, when in doubt, it’s wise to seek advice – better to err on the side of caution and serve notice if you think the Act might apply.
A formal Party Wall Notice must be given to all affected adjoining owners before starting any work covered by the Act.
The following minimum periods give your neighbour time to consider the proposal. (If the neighbour is agreeable, they can consent to an earlier start in writing, but they are not obliged to. Notices are only valid for 12 months, so you shouldn’t serve them too far in advance of when you intend to begin work.
You must serve notice on “all Adjoining Owners” – this includes freehold owners and any leasehold owners with leases over 1 year of the neighboring property. For example, if your neighbor’s house is rented out, you may need to serve the notice to both the landlord and the long-term tenant if the tenant has a qualifying lease. In most typical cases, serving the freehold owner suffices (e.g., the neighbour who lives next door and owns their home).
A party wall notice should be in writing and include key information:
Notices can be delivered by hand or by mail. Since 2016, they may be served via email as well, if the adjoining owner has expressly agreed to receive notices electronically. It’s prudent to keep proof of service (like a postal receipt or a written acknowledgment from the neighbour). If the neighbour is absent or unreachable, the Act allows alternatives (posting it to a last known address, etc., and even fixing it to a conspicuous part of the property if needed).
If your work affects multiple neighbours (e.g. you’re in a terrace and excavating near two adjacent homes), you must serve each of them separately. Each adjoining owner can make their own decision on consent or dissent.
Once the adjoining owner receives your notice, they have a few options in how to respond:
If the adjoining owner is happy with what you’ve described, they can consent in writing. They might simply sign and return a consent note. Consent means you can proceed with the work as described, but it’s wise (and common) even in this case to agree on a Schedule of Condition of the neighbour’s property. This is a detailed record (often with photographs) of the neighbouring areas before work starts, so that any claims of damage can be easily assessed later. Even though a consent means no surveyors under the Act, neighbors often amicably agree to document conditions to protect both sides.
If the adjoining owner is not satisfied or just wants the protection of the Act’s dispute process, they can dissent. Dissent doesn’t necessarily mean they oppose the work entirely; it often means “I want certain conditions” or simply that they prefer a formal Party Wall Award to be in place. They may respond by nominating a surveyor to act for them, or just by writing back “I dissent; I wish a surveyor to be appointed.” Once dissent is given (or if no response is received within 14 days of serving the notice, the law treats that as a dissent by default), then a “dispute” is deemed to have arisen under the Act. This kicks off the dispute resolution procedure (explained below under “Party Wall Award”).
In some situations, the adjoining owner might serve a counter-notice within one month of the original notice. A counter-notice is the neighbour saying, “I consent to your work provided you also do the following additional work…” which usually is something beneficial to the neighbour. For example, if you notified an intention to build a new wall on the boundary (Section 1), the neighbour could counter-notice requiring you to build the wall as a party wall (astride the boundary) so that they have rights over it too – in which case they might contribute to the cost. Or if you propose to expose their wall (by demolishing a structure of yours attached to it), they might counter-notice for you to weatherproof or seal the exposed side. If a counter-notice is served, you as the building owner have to respond (agree or disagree) within 14 days. Any disagreements over a counter-notice also become part of the “dispute” to be handled by surveyors.
If the adjoining owner does not reply at all within 14 days, this is treated as a dissent by silence (a dispute arising). The building owner then must proceed to appoint a surveyor on the neighbour’s behalf so that the process can move forwar. In practice, this scenario is common – sometimes neighbours ignore notices. The Act anticipates this by allowing the building owner to still get an Award done: you would appoint your own surveyor, inform the neighbour in writing again that they failed to respond and you are now appointing a surveyor for them, and then two surveyors will produce an Award. (The neighbour is not allowed to just ignore the Act and thereby stall your project indefinitely.)
When a dispute arises (through dissent or no response), the next step is for each side to appoint a surveyor. The building owner may appoint one, and the adjoining owner either appoints their own or, if they agree, both parties can share one “Agreed Surveyor”. Using one agreed surveyor can save time and cost, as that single surveyor acts impartially for both. If separate surveyors are appointed, those two surveyors will then select a Third Surveyor at the outset (kind of a referee). The third surveyor steps in only if the two cannot agree on some aspect, or if either party invokes the third surveyor to make an Award (this is rare; normally the first two surveyors reach a consensus).
Importantly, party wall surveyors do not act as advocates for the appointing owners (despite being chosen by one side). Under the Act, the surveyors must act impartially and consider the rights of both parties. Their job is to settle the dispute by producing a Party Wall Award (also simply called “the award”). They have broad powers to decide how the work should proceed and what protections or compensations are appropriate for the adjoining owner. Typically, the surveyors will review the planned drawings, possibly inspect the properties, and then agree on conditions.
A Party Wall Award is a formal document, akin to a binding agreement, which usually includes:
Once the Award is agreed and signed by the surveyor(s), it is served on both owners. It is binding and both parties must comply. The building owner can then proceed with the work, but only in accordance with the terms of the Award. The adjoining owner must allow the works to be carried out as awarded (for example, granting access if required by the Award). Surveyors can include a provision for them to have access during the works to inspect progress and ensure compliance.
Typically, the building owner pays all surveyors’ fees (both theirs and the adjoining owner’s surveyor) as the works are for their benefit. The Act’s principle is that the building owner should bear the cost of facilitating the work. The only time an adjoining owner might pay is if they have requested extra works for their own advantage or if negligence is involved on their part. Surveyors decide fee allocation in the Award. There is no fixed scale of fees; they must be “reasonable” and can vary, but unreasonable fees can be challenged if needed.
If either party is unhappy with the Award (believing perhaps that the surveyors acted beyond their powers or made an error), they have a right to appeal to the county court within 14 days of being served with the Award. If no appeal is lodged in that time, the Award becomes conclusive. Appeals are not common – they can be costly and courts tend to uphold surveyors’ decisions unless there’s a clear mistake. As a building owner, you should only appeal with solid grounds, and be aware a failed appeal could result in you paying both sides’ legal costs.
Under the Act, as a building owner you gain legal rights to do work that otherwise could be blocked. For example, you have the right to enter the adjoining land (your neighbour’s property) if necessary to carry out the permitted works or to inspect regarding the work. This might involve erecting scaffolding on the neighbour’s side or digging on their side of the boundary if needed for your foundations. The Act requires you to give 14 days’ notice before exercising this right of entry (often this is built into the Party Wall Notice or Award). The neighbour cannot refuse reasonable access – it’s actually an offence to obstruct someone with a legal right of entry under the Act. Another right is to do necessary adjacent excavation or underpinning on your neighbour’s side if it’s needed to safeguard both buildings (with proper notice and an Award in place).
You must, however,carry out the works in accordance with the Act and any Award. This includes doing the job with “due care and caution” to avoid unnecessary damage. By law, you must make good (repair) any damage to the adjoining premises caused by your works, or compensate the neighbour for it. You also have to follow any time restrictions or methods imposed (e.g., if the Award says hand-digging near the neighbour’s wall, you can’t just use a mechanical excavator). Moreover, you are responsible for the neighbour’s reasonable costs that arise due to the works – for instance, if the neighbour had to temporarily move out during particularly disruptive work, you might be liable for their alternative accommodation costs (the Act allows such provisions in awards). Essentially, you get to do your work, but you accept the duty to protect your neighbour’s property and comfort as much as possible.
The neighbour has the right to be notified in advance and to have a say through either consenting or dissenting. If a dispute arises, they have the right to appoint a surveyor to represent their interests and help formulate the Award. They also can insist on certain safeguards: for example, they can request a security for expenses (a deposit) if worried about your ability to fund potential damage repairs (see Article 4), and can request their own contractor be allowed to do specific protective works if reasonable. They have a right to not have their property undermined or their daily life subjected to undue inconvenience – the Act actually says you must not cause “unnecessary inconvenience” to the adjoining occupier (Section 7(1)). They also have the right to legal recourse if you don’t comply – if you start notifiable work without notice or ignore the Award’s terms, the adjoining owner can seek a court injunction to halt your works.
While the Act favors protecting the neighbour, adjoining owners do have some duties. They must permit access for the works to be done if the Act entitles the building owner to it. They need to cooperate in letting surveyors do inspections and shouldn’t unreasonably interfere. If they agreed in a counter-notice to pay part of the work (say for a thicker party wall they requested), they must follow through on that payment as determined. And importantly, if an Award is in place, they should abide by it just like the building owner – for instance, allowing workmen on the agreed dates, clearing personal items that might be in the way, etc., as long as those requirements are in the Award or notice.
Starting relevant work without serving the required notice is a breach of the Act. The immediate risk is that the adjoining owner can seek a court injunction to stop the works until you comply with the Act. Courts typically grant such injunctions quickly to enforce the Act, which can delay your project and add legal costs. Additionally, as confirmed in a recent Court of Appeal case Power & Kyson v. Shah [2023], if you don’t serve notice, you actually lose the benefit of the Act’s dispute process altogether. In that case, a building owner proceeded with notifiable works without notice; surveyors tried to step in and make an Award, but the court held the Act could not be invoked unilaterally by the neighbour after the fact. The result was the building owner faced a normal lawsuit for nuisance/trespass – a far costlier and riskier scenario, with no Party Wall Award protection. Bottom line: as a building owner, it’s in your interest to use the Act properly; skipping notice doesn’t avoid hassle, it increases it.
Should the adjoining side refuse to cooperate entirely (for example, refuse access when the Act allows it, or ignore the surveyor’s appointment), the building owner has legal remedies. The Act allows a second surveyor to be appointed on the neighbour’s behalf to ensure the Award can be made. And if a neighbour physically prevents entry unlawfully, they could face legal action (even criminal prosecution for obstruction, in extreme cases.
If either party breaches the terms of an Award, it is enforceable in court. For instance, if the Award says the building owner must fix cracks caused, and they fail to, the neighbour can sue for damages or get an injunction for compliance. Conversely, if a neighbour blocks works allowed by an Award, the building owner can seek an injunction to enforce their rights under the Award. In practice, such situations are rare because once an Award is in place, both sides usually adhere to it.
If a dispute somehow isn’t resolved (say surveyors cannot agree and even the third surveyor process falters, or there’s a fundamental question of interpretation), parties might end up in court. The court can appoint a surveyor or make its own determination in some circumstances, but again this is exceptional. Appeals on Awards must be within 14 days; missing that window generally locks in the Award.
The Act also has a couple of criminal offence provisions – notably for denying legal entry to those who are entitled (as mentioned). However, typical Party Wall Act issues (like not serving notice) are not criminal, they’re civil matters. The Act relies on cooperation and civil enforcement, not police, except in the specific case of obstructing entry.