Party Wall Act FAQs

• Property owners in England and Wales.
• The Act is a statutory provision (a legal requirement), there is no opting out.
• The only exception is certain property owned by The Crown and specific court property in London.

​Copy of The Party Wall etc Act 1996

• A developer or property owner can draft and serve Notices on a neighbour, but they must contain all correct information to be legally valid.
• We would always recommend speaking to a neighbour about the works before serving a Notice as their ‘consent’ in writing will avoid appointing surveyors and agreeing a Party Wall Award.
• If a neighbour ‘consents’ to a Notice we always recommend that a schedule of condition of the neighbours property is recorded to protect both parties.

Party Wall Flow Diagram showing step by step process under the Act

• An application to court may be made to seek an injunction to stop the work or potentially remove works already carried out and make good any damage.
• The recent court decision for Ormiston-Kilsby versus Fattahi held that works carried out without Notice being served should be removed.
• A party not complying with the Act whether claiming ignorance of it or attempting to side-step it are extremely unlikely to win favour at a court hearing.

The case of Kaye v Lawrence established that works carried out under the Act will supplant certain common law rights.  Effectively access to a neighbour’s property can be enforced (otherwise trespass) to undertake works falling under the Act and further that a certain degree of nuisance may be caused to execute the works.

• Building Owner(s): Person(s) or company proposing works;
• Adjoining Owner(s): Person(s) or company affected by the works;
• Building Owner’s Surveyor: Surveyor appointed by the Building Owner;
• Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor: Surveyor appointed by the Adjoining Owner;
• Third Surveyor: Surveyor who can pass judgement to resolve disputes between Surveyors or escalation by an Owner.

• Security for Expenses: Security provided to safeguard the Adjoining Owner(s) property;
• Future costs of enclosure:Payment to a neighbour to enclose upon a party wall previously built by them;
• Special Foundations:Foundations including reinforcement bars;
• Notice of Access Letter: Formal advance notice of access to neighbouring land (following agreement of an Award);
• 10(4) appointment: Appointment of a surveyor where the Adjoining Owner has not responded to a Notice.
• 10 day letter: A formal letter served on a Surveyor or Owner prompting them to respond within 10 days.

• Section One: Building astride or abutting the boundary line.
• Section Three: Numerous works to shared Party Walls / Structures; and cutting projections away from / cutting into a neighbour’s property.
• Section Four: Counter Notice served by a neighbour requesting certain allowed amendments to the design.
• Section Six: Excavation works within specified distances of a neighbouring structure.

​   Works falling under the Act

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• Firstly, understand if your proposed works fall within the Act, call us if you are not sure.
• Preferably at ‘Planning Stage’ discuss your proposals with those neighbours who will later require Notice under the Act.  The neighbour is much more likely to ‘consent’ to a Notice if you have been open and honest with them from the outset.
• ‘Consent’ to a Notice will avoid the need for Surveyors’ fees and for an Award to be agreed.
• If your neighbour(s) do consent to the Notice(s), ensure a schedule of condition is recorded of their premises and a copy provided to them prior to works commencing.  This detail is extremely important and will protect both parties.

Note: We can provide a cost effective service to just draft and serve valid / legally compliant Notices where requested.

*Important Note: The above FAQs provide only basic information and are intended as general guidance only and are not a substitute for obtaining professional surveying or legal advice.
Still have questions? Contact us and a member of our team will get back to you ASAP.

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• A good starting point is a Surveyor who is Chartered or a practice that is Regulated by RICS.  Those governed by RICS must meet a minimum standard and a formal complaints procedure is available.
• Ideally the Surveyor should specialise solely in Party Wall matters as they should fully understand the Act and supporting case law.

• This varies.  Works in and close to London are generally more than other regions.
• Surveyors’ charge out rates vary between approximately £150 to £250 per hour.  ‘Third Surveyors’ are usually more.
• Neighbouring surveyor’s fees are usually paid for by the party undertaking the works.
• Low fixed cost services are often false economies due to the surveyor not having sufficient fees to do the job properly and having high volumes of work to deal with.

Important Note: The above FAQs provide only basic information and are intended as general guidance only and are not a substitute for obtaining professional surveying or legal advice.
Still have questions? Contact us and a member of our team will get back to you ASAP.

• Understanding what design information is likely to be requested – we can provide early advice on this.
• Ensuring the design does not cause ‘unnecessary inconvenience’ to a neighbour or require ‘special foundation consent’.
• Security for Expenses may be requested by a neighbour which may affect project cashflow.
• Negotiations regarding access to /  over a neighbour’s property.
• That your appointed surveyor is very experienced in defect analysis should the neighbour suggest damage.

• The Notices have different timescales, but for simple works we suggest a minimum of three months.
• For more complicated and risky works the period is likely to be longer.
• If a site has numerous boundaries and affected neighbours, your surveyor should be able to estimate a period.

• The framework of the Act by and large prevents this.  Once a neighbour has appointed a surveyor, that surveyor must act impartially to diligently progress and agree an Award with the developer’s own surveyor.  If this is not the case, the matter can be escalated to the Third Surveyor.

• Involve a party wall surveyor as early as possible who will be able to provide you with a budget cost for party wall surveyor’s fees, an overview of ‘notifiable’ ownerships, the types of Notices required and whether they should be ‘phased’ and the likely timescales.​

The Clark Kent Partnership Ltd ​have purpose built software to provide ‘layered’ information on pdf drawings thus making complicated sites easy to understand at a glance for each boundary or work phase.

• Positioning / type of crane to avoid oversail of neighbour’s property, otherwise an access licence will require negotiation.
• Scaffolding on or over a neighbour’s property (if it is not for works falling under the Act an access licence will require negotiation).

*Important Note: The above FAQs provide only basic information and are intended as general guidance only and are not a substitute for obtaining professional surveying or legal advice.
Still have questions? Contact us and a member of our team will get back to you ASAP.