The Party Wall Act applies to most work you may want to carry out to party walls, however if works to the party wall are minor, then service of a notice under the Act is not necessary. Such works may include surface repairs, such as re plastering, or cutting into the plaster of the wall to add or replace recessed electric wiring and sockets, replacing skirtings or fitting small cabinets.

If it applies, it means that you will have to serve notice of the proposed works on your neighbour(s) and, if they do not consent to the work, you'll have to appoint a surveyor to prepare a Party Wall Award.

The main types of party walls are:

The Act also uses the expression ‘party structure’. This could be a wall or floor partition or other structure separating buildings or parts of buildings in different ownership, such as in flats.

The Act covers:

This may include:

Serving notice can be done for free, using appropriate standard forms or we can visit the property check your plans and what you are proposing and for a flat fee fill in the correct forms with the correct information. Getting the information on the form correct is important as it is a legal requirement to serve notice in accordance with the Act. A letter of acknowledgement for the neighbour to complete and return is usually included.

A Building Owner has to give two months written notice on building works which affect a party wall, or one month’s notice for a new wall at the boundary or for excavations. 

If the work is agreed then the Building Owner can start earlier.

Once notice is served, a neighbour has fourteen days to respond, after which, there are three possible outcomes:

In both cases a Party Wall Award is required and this can be done in the following ways.

The Building Owner and neighbour can appoint ONE Agreed Surveyor, usually within ten days, who can act impartially for both. The agreed surveyor should be independent and NOT the same surveyor the Building Owner is using for their own works. Otherwise their neighbour is unlikely to view the surveyor as neutral. The Agreed Surveyor produces an “Award” which details the works proposed and a schedule of condition, including pictures, of the neighbour’s home. 

Each owner appoints their own surveyor. However, this is expensive for the Building Owner who is under normal circumstances responsible for the costs of their neighbour’s surveyor as well as their own. The two surveyors agree a Third Surveyor in case they have a dispute that they cannot resolve or either of the owners are unhappy and want a second opinion. In this case the Third Surveyor gets paid before he issues his advice and he can ask for payment from either the Building Owner or the neighbour (Adjoining Owner).

Where a neighbour does not respond to notices, and a dispute has arisen the Building Owners should appoint a surveyor, once appointed he should send a further request to your neighbour to appoint a surveyor within 10 days or agree to his appointment. If there is still no response the Building Owner can appoint a second surveyor to act as the neighbour’s surveyor. An award can then be drawn up without the neighbour’s input if they continue to be silent.