Renovating and The Party Wall Act

The Party Wall Act

What

If you plan to do any of the following in England or Wales, you’ll need to consider some legislation called the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (often abbreviated to “the Act” or the “Party Wall Act”):

Build on or at the boundary line between your and another’s property
Alter, repair or otherwise do work to an existing party wall, party fence wall or party structure
Excavate near to and below the foundation level of neighbouring buildings or structures

Common examples include:

Building a new wall astride the boundary of your and your neighbour’s property
Building a new wall on your own land at the boundary between your and your neighbour’s property
Knocking down and rebuilding a party wall
Removing a chimney breast from a party wall
Cutting into a wall that you and your neighbour share (i.e. inserting a steel beam into a wall separating your and their house)
Making a party wall taller, shorter or deeper
Digging below the foundation level of a neighbour’s property within, depending on the depth, 3 or 6 metres of their property

The Act grants certain rights and imposes certain obligations on those proposing to undertake certain building works. You’d be wise to get up to speed if any of the renovation works you’re planning might fall within the scope of the Act.

Why

The fundamental purposes of the Act are:

To minimise disputes between neighbouring property owners (and, in some instances, occupiers) when works are undertaken, and

To provide a dispute resolution framework for when disputes do occur with respect to that work.

Understanding this is absolutely key. When reading about the Act and working your way through things, always remember the purposes of the Act. If you have those in mind, you can potentially make life much, much easier for yourself (and your neighbours).

Bearing in mind the Act’s fundamental purposes

Just to illustrate, imagine you’re planning certain works that involve building a new boundary wall, putting steel beams into an existing boundary wall, digging some foundations and pulling down an internal chimney breast.

You think that you’re entitled to just fire ahead and have some builders come round to do these things. You get your plans together, get planning approval, get building regs plans, line up a contractor, and head off on a nice holiday to the Canaries while the builders come in and do what they do.

You arrive back to town a couple of months later with a nice tan and feeling pleased that you’ve managed to pick up some Spanish. Then you run into your neighbour. Their usual smile and polite acknowledgement of your existence has been replaced with a scowl. You wonder why. The builders give you at least some of the mail that arrived while you were away. One of the dirt and tea stained envelopes contains a letter from a solicitor informing you of legal proceedings against you. Things get ugly. You end up having to pay damages to your neighbour and they never speak to you again, the relationship forevermore doomed to hostilities even when, as a good faith gesture, you go out of your way to try to teach them the new Spanish phrases that you’d learnt.

Now imagine instead if you’d considered what impact your works might have on your neighbour and, even if you don’t like them or have never spoken with them before, discussed with them what you were planning on doing, reassured them that you and your contractors would aim to minimise any potential negative impact and that you will be responsible for any damage caused (as you will be). You also suggest as a bonus that you could teach them some Spanish phrases when you get back from the Canaries.

This might seem overly facetious or patronising but, genuinely, there had been so many disputes and court cases that parliament enacted the Party Wall Act to try to reduce the number of disputes and provide an out-of-court dispute resolution process.

The flip side thankfully is that you are actually entitled to undertake certain works, subject to certain requirements and conditions, even if your neighbour hates you already, doesn’t want you to do any works and doesn’t like Spanish.

Provided you comply with the obligations of the Act, the benefits from the rights granted under the Act include:

Being legally permitted to carry out certain works and for you and your builders to enter and remain on your neighbour’s land to execute the work (even if your neighbour doesn’t consent)
Being able to proceed with the works within certain timescales (which prevents others from delaying your works plans indefinitely)
Protection from future claims against you, and ultimately reducing the likelihood of a dispute that ends up going to court with all the associated expense that would involve.

When

The earlier you can talk with any neighbour who may be affected, the better. You don’t need to update them every other day as you develop your plans and bore them to death with all and any thoughts you might have about your new loft conversion layout. As soon as plans start to solidify though, it’d be wise to let them know and have a discussion with them about Party Wall Act matters. We provide a list of things you should ideally discuss under Speak With Your Neighbours below.

You’ll be required to serve certain notices (because so many people did indeed ignore their neighbours and go ahead and do works regardless — just not necessarily also going to the Canaries). They must be served at least 1 or 2 months in advance of any works starting (depending on which notification).

Any notice served lasts 12 months from the date you serve it so don’t send them until you’re sure that your works will commence within that period.

Also, you’ll need to have your building works plans settled before sending out notices. You don’t necessarily have to have gone through a planning application and it’s probably best if notices are done beforehand in case you need to change plans (i.e. you want to build an astride the boundary wall but the neighbour doesn’t consent and you need to change it to a wall at the boundary, wholly on your land) but you’ll want plans to be settled. You’ll need to describe the works in some detail and ideally you can also send final (or very late drafts) of plan drawings (architectural and engineering if relevant).

If you send notices and you subsequently change plans, you’ll need to resend notices with any updates and seek agreement for those, even if your neighbour had by that time already consented to your original works plans (because they will have consented only to the works that you had previously notified them of, not the changed plans).

It’s possible that your neighbour’s response, or lack of response, may affect your timeline (i.e. you end up in dispute and have to go through the dispute resolution procedures set out by the Act). When planning your overall timeline, you’ll need to factor in the notification timings and how your timeline will shift if any neighbour doesn’t provide prompt consent.

How

Entire books have been written about the Party Wall Act, related case law and general party wall practice. This page provides an informational overview of what we think is the most relevant information for common residential renovations for informational purposes, and to provide the foundations on which you can develop your knowledge and possibly handle the requirements of the Act by yourself.

We’ve laid things out below as best we can to try to enable you to wrap your head around things as quickly as possible. We don’t see the point in giving some kind of “top 10 things to think about concerning party walls” type overview though. You’ll need to know more than that even to have sensible discussions with the relevant people you’ll be dealing with and you’ll need to know the details if you want to take a DIY approach.

A note about Party Wall Act DIY

None of the information on this website is professional advice, legal or otherwise. If you need professional advice or assistance, you should seek it from a solicitor or an experienced and knowledgeable party wall surveyor (Get familiar with Party Wall Act terminology). If you end up engaging one or more party wall surveyors and don’t DIY, hopefully the following at least puts you in a better position to understand discussions with them as well as to hold them to account as, ultimately, it is your and not anyone else’s responsibility to comply with the Act.

To be clear, there are many people who offer services in relation to the Party Wall Act and can aggressively try to sell them but, initially at least, you do not need to, and are not required to, use them. Nor are any of your neighbours. The requirement under the Act to engage a party wall surveyor only bites under certain circumstances; namely a “dispute” of some kind (we’ll describe below what that means).

As with much legislation though, things can get complicated quickly (and there is an incredible amount of resultant confusion and misinformation out there). Ambiguities get argued over and litigated. Therefore, if you struggle to understand the basics fully (and legal issues aren’t everyone’s cup of tea so that’s totally fine), if you’re planning works that will go beyond the basics, or if you’re a flat owner with various neighbours and struggle to work out who the relevant adjoining owners and occupiers are, you’ll probably be better off getting a party wall surveyor involved at the outset to handle things for you, as expensive as it can be.

It’s also worth adding that, if you think there’s a good chance a dispute will emerge with a neighbour concerning the state of their property before, during or after your building works (i.e. claiming your works caused damage), again, even though not required, engaging a party wall surveyor at the outset may be the way to go. Rather than documenting things yourself, which will still ultimately involve you and your neighbour having to agree in the event of a claim of damage to property, the party wall surveyor would be an independent third-party to document and judge things for you.

Be aware though that any independent third-party can act as a party wall surveyor. They technically do not need to have any particular skills or competence and are not overseen by any professional services body or authority. Some will therefore be better than others. You’d ideally need someone with the requisite building works knowledge and also proper knowledge of the Party Wall Act (meaning that they should really have some legal related skills also). So if you need to or want to engage one or more surveyors, choose carefully.

With that understood, let’s dig in. There’s quite a lot of information you need to know and various things you need to think about to get familiar with Party Wall Act matters.

You may need to read through all of the below a few times before things start to click fully. Hopefully, though, this will ultimately save you from having to read 101 different articles and wasting days of your life to get to the same place.

We’d suggest that you open the actual legislation in a new tab or browser window and read the relevant parts of the Act as you work your way through the below. In part because it’s always best to go to the source for things like this, especially as there’s a lot of incorrect information elsewhere online. In part because it’ll help to make things click into place. It may fry the mind initially but, thankfully, for legislation, it’s not that long and at least some parts aren’t terribly confusing.

The government also has an explanatory booklet available online, which you might also find helpful. Bear in mind though that you need to comply with the Act, not the booklet, and the booklet is unfortunately a little muddy in places so, while useful, it’s not necessarily the best source of information in our view.

Fundamentals

STEP 1 — Get familiar with Party Wall Act terminology

First, you’ll need to understand some terminology. The Act provides certain legal definitions, which are worth a read through but can be rather confusing. Where it makes sense, we’ll use laypersons’ descriptions instead to aid understanding. Also, rather than laying them out alphabetically, the following order is aimed at making understanding them all easier by building on one concept after another.

Party

It’s probably easiest to just think of “party” as meaning “shared”. A party wall = a shared wall. A party structure = a shared structure. A party fence wall = a shared fence wall.

Sometimes people think that a party wall which divides their and their neighbour’s house is half owned by each — you own your side, the neighbour owns theirs. That is incorrect. The wall is shared and wholly owned by both. There are situations where the wall is indeed wholly owned by one neighbour but which is nevertheless shared by both neighbours of the adjoining buildings (i.e. where a wall is wholly on your land and the neighbouring property, or a part of the neighbouring property, was built up against it when the properties were built or at a later date with consent of the wall owner).

Party Wall

It’s commonly said that there are two types of party walls: A and B. This stems from the legislation which provides a definition that contains two paragraphs: (a) and (b).

Type A is a wall which forms part of a building and stands on lands of different owners along all or part of the boundary. The most common are probably the walls that separate terraced or semi-detached houses for example.

Taking a semi-detached house with neighbour A to the left and neighbour B to the right — the party wall is built partly on A’s land and partly on B’s land, it is part of their buildings and it separates those buildings.

Party Wall Act - Type A Party Wall example 1 — *TYPE A* PARTY WALL — EXAMPLE 1

(Source: UK Government’s The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet. Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.)

According to the government’s explanatory booklet, a Type A wall can also be an astride the boundary wall that is part of only one landowner’s building. For example, neighbour A’s house to the left has a wall that sits astride the boundary but there is a gap between that wall and Neighbour B’s house to the right.

Party Wall Act - Type A Party Wall example 2 — *TYPE A* PARTY WALL — EXAMPLE 2

(Source: UK Government’s The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet. Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.)

Type B is a wall that is entirely on one owner’s land but which is also used by an adjoining building owned by someone else. The example cited in the government’s explanatory booklet is where neighbour A’s house is built right up to the boundary but wholly on A’s land and neighbour B’s building is built up to the boundary with A’s wall being the only separating wall between the two houses. In other words, B’s house uses A’s wall as its external wall.

Party Wall Act - Type B Party Wall example — *TYPE B* PARTY WALL

(Source: UK Government’s The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet. Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.)

It’s worth adding as a side note that various other resources conflate party walls, party fence walls and party structures. Watch out for that. It’s important not to do that as provisions of the Act apply to each of these terms in differing ways.

Party Fence Wall

It’s an astride the boundary wall that is not part of a building and separates adjoining lands. In other words, a masonry garden wall for example.

(Source: UK Government’s The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet. Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.)

Often people are keen to point out that a party fence wall does not include a wooden (or metal) fence or hedging. It’s probably easier to think in terms of what it is than what it isn’t. It’s a wall. A wall is made from masonry of some kind or other. A wall can’t be a wooden/metal fence or a hedge. A fence can however be masonry, wooden or metal, hence why party fence wall as a term still makes sense.

Party Structure

A party structure is a party wall and also a floor partition or other structure separating buildings or parts of buildings approached solely by separate staircases or separate entrances. In other words, walls, floors and other structures that separate adjoining flats.

(Source: UK Government’s The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet. Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.)

Building Owner, Adjoining Owner & Adjoining Occupier

A building owner means an owner of real estate property who is seeking to exercise their rights under the Act. In other words, the building owner who is wanting to do the building works.

An adjoining owner means any owner of land, buildings, storeys or rooms adjoining those of the building owner and, with respect to excavations (for which you will have to consider distances from the building owner’s property), land, buildings, storeys or rooms within the distances specified by the Act.

An owner for purposes of the Act includes those:

Holding the freehold title
Holding a leasehold title for a period exceeding one year
Under contract to purchase such a freehold or leasehold title
Entitled to receive rents from the property

An adjoining occupier means any occupier of land, buildings, storeys or rooms adjoining those of the building owner and, with respect to excavations (for which you will have to consider distances from the building owner’s property), land, buildings, storeys or rooms within the distances specified by the Act (3 or 6 metres, depending).

Building owner and adjoining owner Examples

The owner of a Victorian terraced house, neighbour A, wants to do an L-shaped dormer loft conversion (meaning a dormer loft conversion that converts the rear roof area and the roof area of the outrigger / part of the house that juts out at the rear). It’ll entail extending the existing party wall shared with the owner of an adjoining terraced house, neighbour B, and cutting into that wall to insert steel structural beams. The steel beams will be the full width of the house and will also be inserted into the existing party wall shared with the owner of the other adjoining terraced house, neighbour C. Neighbour A is the building owner. Neighbour B and neighbour C are each an adjoining owner. (Yes, each of neighbours B and C is also a building owner but they are not the building owner for purposes of the Act.)
The owner of a Victorian terraced house, neighbour A, wants to do a ground-floor extension. It’ll entail laying new foundations (and excavating land to do that), building a new wall either on neighbour A’s land along the boundary or astride the boundary with an adjoining terraced house. The owner of the adjoining terraced house lives in Scotland and rents out that house to a tenant on a year to year basis. Neighbour A is the building owner. The Scotland dwelling house owner is the adjoining owner. Their tenant is the adjoining occupier.
The freeholder owner of a second floor flat in a two flat Victorian house conversion, neighbour A, wants to do some internal refurbishment that will include knocking through a wall dividing their living room and kitchen area to make it more open plan. It will entail inserting a steel beam into the walls either side to support the ceiling. The flats have other Victorian terraced buildings on either side, each of which have also been converted into two flats; one upstairs, one down. Each of those flat owners is a leaseholder. The flat below neighbour A’s is also a freeholder. Neighbour A is the building owner. Each of the neighbours in the other flats mentioned are adjoining owners. In addition, under the Act, some practitioners would consider any management company or landlord of the leasehold flats to be an adjoining owner because the Act defines an owner as including a person in receipt of, or entitled to receive, the whole or part of the rents or profits of land.
The owner of a detached house, neighbour A, plans to excavate to have a basement level added to their property. The side wall of the house next door, owned by neighbour B, is two metres away and they do not have a basement level already. Neighbour A is the building owner. Neighbour B is the adjoining owner. As you’ll see below in relation to excavations, the Act applies to excavations within 3 metres of a neighbour’s house when you plan to excavate deeper than that neighbour’s existing foundations.

Surveyor and Agreed Surveyor

A party wall surveyor is a third-party appointed or selected under the Act’s dispute resolution provisions to determine disputes in accordance with the Act.

The reality is that sometimes people engage surveyors also to handle any notifications as well as to document the condition of the relevant properties (see Schedule of Condition below), even if no dispute ever arises.

A surveyor can be anyone as long as there is no conflict of interest (i.e. not your spouse) but, if you do end up engaging a surveyor, probably best if they have some expertise both with the Party Wall Act and are knowledgeable about buildings and their structures.

An agreed surveyor just refers to a surveyor who has been appointed to jointly represent the interests of the building owner and the adjoining owner. This keeps costs down. As you’ll see shortly, the alternative is at least three surveyors being appointed (though in practice hopefully the third is never used).

Schedule of Condition

A Schedule of Condition is just a document that sets out details concerning the condition of a property.

If you type something like “party wall schedule of condition” into Google and/or use Google Images, you’ll see various examples to get the idea. There are no doubt free online templates you could download also if desired or you could easily draw up your own if you’re not using a surveyor (who’ll likely have their own template).

A Schedule of Condition does not stem from the Act itself. It stems from general Party Wall Act practice. It is an evidentiary document related to the fact that, under the Act, you’re responsible for damage caused. Its purpose is to record all relevant information about the applicable properties to mitigate against potential disputes later on.

Who’s to blame?

Suppose you’re doing a loft conversion for your semi-detached. Not long after completion, your neighbour tells you that they spotted a crack along one of their internal walls.

How do you know that was attributable to the work you had done?

Some people might try to take advantage of you but it’s also entirely possible that they just hadn’t noticed the issue before and it existed before you undertook any work. On the flipside, especially if the wall in question is the other side of the party wall, there’s every chance that it was indeed caused by the work you had done.

It’s worth adding that, even with a Schedule of Condition, you may find that a dispute arises. It’s possible that for one reason or another, you and your neighbour don’t end up agreeing as to whether or not damage was or wasn’t caused by your works even with a Schedule of Condition recording the state of things pre-works (i.e. maybe the damage emerges 6 months later and you think that your works were not to blame).

In that event, you may need to involve one or party wall surveyors to adjudicate (though bear in mind costs for that — even if you don’t accept responsibility, it might prove cheaper to just pay for repairs).

Some people engage a surveyor early on to draft and send out notifications and to produce one or more schedules of condition covering the relevant properties. There’s a lot to be said for that — it’ll save you quite a bit of time and having a third-party handle it mitigates the risk of subsequent disputes. That said, it’s absolutely something you could do yourself if you wanted to save the money.

If you DIY, here’s how it’s usually done:

When discussing Party Wall Act matters with your neighbour, explain what a schedule of condition is and what it’s for (best to frame things in a way that let’s them know that it’s very much in their interest too rather than you just trying to cover your back)
Make the arrangements with the relevant neighbours/adjoining owners to get access to survey their property
Take photos of the condition of their property, covering in particular any already existing damage or imperfections and paying extra attention to any area that may be more likely to be affected by your works (internal and external)
If you’re okay with just going by the photos and adopting a less formal and less detailed approach, you could just share the photos with your neighbour and have them confirm in writing that they accurately represent the current state of their property as of a stated date
You could simply do this via email — send them the photos and ask them to reply confirming that they represent accurately the current state of their property as of a stated date
You could alternatively embed the photos in a Word document (making sure it’s dated), print it and have them sign that
If you’d prefer the more formal, robust and detailed approach, in addition to taking the photos, you’d prepare a document with written descriptions of each area, setting out specifics about its condition in the way that a surveyor would do, cross-referring to the applicable photos.
You’d then have the neighbour sign and date that

Line of Junction Notice

Line of junction just means the boundary line between properties or land.

This is a notice from the building owner to an adjoining owner that is required to be served under Section 1 of the Act if you want to:

Build a party wall or party fence wall on the line of junction (i.e. astride the boundary), or
Build a wall at the line of junction wholly on your own land.

Any line of junction notices are to be served at least 1 month before the planned start date for any works.

Party Structure Notice

This is a notice from the building owner to any adjoining owner that is required to be served under Section 3 of the Act if you want to:

Do work to or build against an existing party wall or party structure (Section 2 of the Act sets out a list of such works that are permissible).

Any party structure notices are to be served at least 2 months before the planned start date for any works.

Adjacent Excavation Notice

This is a notice from the building owner to any adjoining owner that is required to be served under Section 6 of the Act if you want to:

Excavate, or excavate for and construct foundations for a new building or structure, within 3 metres of any part of a adjoining owner’s building or structure, where any part of that work will go deeper than their foundations

(Source: UK Government’s The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet. Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.)

Excavate, or excavate for and construct foundations for a new building or structure, within 6 metres of any part of an adjoining owner’s building or structure, where any part of that work will meet a line drawn downwards at 45° in the direction of the excavation from the bottom of the adjoining owner’s foundations.

(Source: UK Government’s The Party Wall etc Act 1996: explanatory booklet. Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.)

Any notices of adjacent excavation are to be served at least 1 month before the planned start date for any works.

Special Foundations

Usually excavating comes into play when you need to lay foundations of some sort and/or you’re otherwise digging down for some reason, such as adding a basement.

The common foundations for residential extensions are concrete strip foundations and/or pad foundations; the former usually for simple walls, the latter usually for structural columns. If you’re not sure what those are, have a quick look using Google Images.

There are also special foundations, which the Act defines as foundations that employ an assemblage of beams or rods for the purpose of distributing any load. In layperson’s terms, this effectively means reinforced foundations. In the residential houses context, they probably crop up most often in relation to excavating to add a basement level.

To “Serve” a Notice

We’ve already used the term “serve” a number of times. It appears in various places through the Act in relation to notices. It effectively means to deliver but to “serve” a legal document usually has a specific legal meaning and, handily, the Act sets that out in this case.

You can serve a notice under the Act by:

Delivering it to him or her in person.
Sending it by post to him or her at their usual or last-known residence or place of business in the United Kingdom.
In the case of a body corporate (meaning a company, such as a building management company), delivering it to the secretary or clerk of the body corporate at its registered or principal office or sending it by post to the secretary or clerk of that body corporate at that office.
Emailing it, if to an email specified by the recipient and that recipient has stated that you can email the notification to them and has not subsequently withdrawn that statement (i.e. changed their mind). Note here that you will have to somehow obtain their consent in advance of sending any initial notice if you propose to serve your initial notice by email. They also require your consent to send any notices or documentation by email so be sure to include your own written consent to use of email and specify to which email address.

If you do not know who the owner of a property is (i.e. it’s rented out), you may address the notice to “The Owner”, adding the address of the premises, and deliver it to a person on the premises or, if the neighbouring property is empty, fix it to a conspicuous part of the premises.

To be fair, this one doesn’t necessarily seem like the best way to get a notice to a property owner but what can you do? That’s what the Act says so if you end up in a situation where you don’t know who the owner is and have to “serve” notice in this way, it’s best to comply with the Act’s requirements and do as it says.

In the case of a rented house or flat, you may also want to see if you can simply find out if an estate agent manages it for the owner and then contact that estate agent and deliver a copy of the notice to the estate agent for them to pass on (or ask that they give you the owner’s correspondence address to do so) — this might seem like unnecessary hassle but remember that the name of the game is to inform the adjoining owner, be considerate and to try to avoid a dispute.

A Party Wall Award / Award / Party Wall Agreement

This is a document prepared by one or more party wall surveyors that usually lays out things like:

What work will be undertaken
How and when it will be carried out
Who will pay for what and in what proportions
A Schedule of Condition

The Act calls it an “award”, which is where that term comes from.

STEP 2 — Consider if your work falls under the Act

Now that you’ve hopefully got a handle on what the Act is, why it exists, when it applies and when you’ll need to deal with it, as well as the key terminology, you can consider whether or not the works you are contemplating will fall under the Act.

There are sufficient descriptions with relevant links above already so just as a super quick recap, the Act applies if you want to:

Build on or at a line of junction between your and another’s property (Section 1 of the Act)
Alter, repair or otherwise do work to an existing party wall or party structure (any of the list of works set out by Section 2 of the Act)
Excavate near to and below the foundation level of neighbouring buildings or structures (Section 6 of the Act) (because it is ‘and’, you do not need to serve notice if you are not excavating below the foundation level of neighbouring buildings or structures). More specifically:
Within 3m of an adjoining owner’s building or structure, where any part of that work will go deeper than their foundations, and/or
Within 6m of an adjoining owner’s building or structure, where any part of that work will meet a line drawn downwards at 45° in the direction of the excavation from the bottom of the adjoining owner’s foundations

As the government explanatory booklet notes, certain works may be considered to be too minor in nature and therefore do not trigger the requirements of the Act. Namely, things like:

Drilling into a party wall to fix plugs and screws for ordinary wall units or shelving
Cutting into a party wall to add or replace recessed electric wiring and sockets
Removing old plaster and replastering

It highlights also that the key thing to consider is whether or not your planned work might have any possible consequences for the structural strength and support functions of a party wall, party fence wall or party structure or could cause damage to the adjoining owner’s side of the wall (or their property more broadly).

STEP 3 — If the Act applies, speak with neighbours and handle notifications

Speak With Your Neighbours

It’s best to informally discuss your plans and any application of the Act with the relevant people, particularly before you go sending out formal notifications.

Imagine if you suddenly received a formal notice about planned building works from a neighbour (or, worse, their surveyor) with a requirement to formally respond within a specified timeframe and you knew nothing about their plans or the Act. There’s a pretty good chance that it’ll cause some alarm and that could lead to a potential knee-jerk reaction and assumptions about unnecessarily engaging surveyors, at your cost, or adopting an adversarial position.

Unless they’re already familiar with the Party Wall Act, it’s a lot of information to digest so perhaps you elect to break it up into a number of conversations.

You could start with raising that you expect to undertake certain works and the Party Wall Act may be implicated, and then send them information and links for the Party Wall Act so they can inform themselves before you go into things in more detail with them.

You may ultimately want to discuss some or all of the following with any neighbour who is an adjoining owner to try to be considerate and keep things conciliatory (if they are an adjoining occupier, rather than owner, it’s probably best to keep it only to those few bits that are relevant to them).

What your plans are, when you expect to start works and how long you expect works to go on for.
What the Party Wall Act is and key information about it, including that it:
Concerns shared walls and structures and excavations near others’ buildings.
Sets out various rights of building owners to undertake certain works as well as the obligations to take responsibility for and make good any damage caused to an adjoining owner’s property as well as to protect the adjoining owner’s property to the extent required.
Is aimed at trying to pre-empt potential disputes between neighbouring property owners and provides dispute resolution mechanisms in the event that a dispute arises.
Requires you to send one or more formal notices in relation to proposed works.
Give them links to the legislation and to the government’s party wall act website pages (and/or this webpage if you want).
What notices you think the works you’re planning will require to be served, how and when you plan to serve the notices, what the notices will say and how the adjoining owner can choose to deal with them.
If you propose to build a new astride the boundary wall, explain what that is and inform them that, if they do not respond to a notice about a new astride the boundary wall within the 14 days or at all, or if they express their disagreement, you are entitled under the Act to go ahead and instead build at the line of junction a wall wholly on your land but which may still use projecting foundations going under their land. Add that you’ll be obligated to compensate the adjoining owner (and any adjoining occupier if relevant) for any damage to their property caused by the building of that wall and/or the placing of its foundations. If they contest the building of the wall wholly on your land, it’ll be considered a dispute under the Act and the Act’s dispute resolution mechanisms will kick-in requiring the appointment of one or more surveyors.
That, for works aside from a new astride the boundary wall, you and they will be considered to be in dispute under the Act if they do not formally respond to a notice within the required 14 days or if they otherwise do not consent to the proposed works. Add that the dispute will not prevent the works proceeding (provided your proposed works are all permitted rights under the Act) but will just trigger the Act’s dispute resolution mechanisms resulting in the appointment of one or more party wall surveyors who will undertake certain surveying work in respect of the properties and prepare an agreement between you and the adjoining owner called an award (a.k.a. a party wall agreement).
If a dispute arises under the Act, you can both agree to appoint a single surveyor to resolve the dispute and that surveyor would be called an “agreed surveyor”. Note that the involvement of any surveyors will cost a significant amount of money, which you’ll have to pay for. Add that they are entitled to disagree and enter a dispute under the Act and may choose to go with the single agreed surveyor approach or appoint their own surveyor at your cost. If the adjoining owner feels the need to involve a surveyor, highlight that the government explanatory booklet emphasises that a single surveyor to represent both parties (known as an agreed surveyor) should be all that’s needed in most common situations rather than each party appointing their down surveyor, though the adjoining owner is entitled to do that if they so choose.
If a dispute arises and any surveyor is appointed, they’ll prepare and issue what is called an award, simply meaning an agreement between you that would set out what work you will do and how and when, and would stipulate any particular conditions the surveyor(s) see fit to include. The award / agreement will be binding and if either of you disagree with anything in the award / agreement, you can, within 14 days, appeal to the county court.
If you wish to appoint any surveyor regardless of whether or not a dispute arises.
What a Schedule of Condition is, its purpose and why it would be sensible and in both parties’ interests if one is prepared. If taking a DIY approach, note that you can do it yourselves and explain how and what they will have to do (i.e. allow you to take photos and survey their property and then to sign the Schedule of Condition or otherwise provide a confirmation of some sort that such photos and any descriptions are accurate as of a specified date). If you are not taking a DIY approach, let them know that any appointed surveyor will want to pull together a Schedule of Condition as part of their work.
If they have any similar works they plan to do or if they might require:
Any such things as chimney copings, breasts, jambs or flues, or such piers or recesses or other like works, as may reasonably be required.
Where you plan to reduce, or to demolish and rebuild, a party wall or party fence wall, if they might require that wall to remain or be rebuilt to the same height.
Where you plan to use any special foundations, if they might require any greater depth and/or be constructed of sufficient strength to bear the load to be carried by columns of any intended building that the adjoining owner plans to build.
Who will be responsible for what costs.
That you or your workers may need access during usual working hours to the adjoining owner’s land or property to undertake your proposed works (and, if need be, that the Act grants you this right).

Notices

Once you’ve had a chat with the neighbours, working out which notice or notices to serve (yes, you may need to send more than one type of notification to the same adjoining owner) is easy.

If you plan to:

Build on or at a line of junction between your and another’s property
(Section 1)

Serve a Line of Junction Notice

Alter, repair or otherwise do work to an existing party wall, party fence wall or party structure
(Section 2)

Serve a Party Structure Notice

Excavate near to and below the foundation level of neighbouring buildings or structures
(Section 6)

Serve an Adjacent Excavation Notice

Drafting the notices is a little more challenging but very much doable for common residential renovations works like extensions and loft conversions.

If you’ve elected to appoint a professional to draft notices for you, they may have their own form of notices that they customarily use.

If you’re taking the DIY approach, you can just use templates.

The government provides templates. To be honest, there are a number of problems with those though and they’re not terribly straightforward to use.

We therefore reworked those templates to create better, more user friendly versions, which we used for our most recent renovation. You can download them below to review — in either Word or OpenDocument format. If you want to understand the differences between these and the government versions, at the end of this webpage we outline what they are and why.

Party Wall Notice Templates
(Word)

Download

Party Wall Notice Templates
(OpenDoc)

Download

The templates can be edited in MS Word or other word processing software and contain directions on how to do that. As a reminder, we’re providing these for general informational purposes. It’s your responsibility to ensure that you understand the provisions of the Act and that you’re complying with all its requirements and the general practice, including in relation to notices. Not serving notices when required or not doing so correctly can result in problems, including potential court injunctions and/or damages sought by aggrieved neighbours. We handled the Act requirements ourselves without issue but, to be fair, our works, while extensive, were relatively straightforward (extension, loft conversion, general internal refurb). You could certainly do likewise if your plans are also straightforward but if you’re in any doubt or if your plans are more complicated than the usual run of the mill, consult a professional or seek legal advice to ensure that things are done properly.

Let’s take each in turn. You should read the following alongside reviewing the relevant notice template (our versions rather than the government’s).

Line of Junction Notices

Needs to be served at least 1 month prior to works commencing. The date you serve the notice is the first day of that 1 month period.

The notice will expire and you will need to serve a new notice if your works have not commenced within 12 months of the date you serve the notice.

Information on how to serve the notice is above under Get familiar with Party Wall terminology > To “Serve” a Notice.

Technically, for new build walls, the Act only refers to the 12 month period in relation to new walls at the line of junction that are wholly on your own land and specifically only in relation to foundations that will project under the neighbouring land (meaning you could technically just get those foundations done within that period and then build the actual wall later). That said, general practice seems to be to stick to the 12 months timeframe for overall works anyway, presumably because the 12 month period applies to any works done under Sections 2 (alterations / doing work to existing walls and structures) and 6 (excavations). Either way, you’ll want to get the work done sooner rather than later because it is possible for the adjoining owner to rescind their consent.

There are two slightly differing Line of Junction Notices:

One if you want to try to build an astride the boundary wall (and, if you do not get consent from the adjoining owner, a wall wholly on your land instead)
The other if you do not want to build an astride the boundary wall and plan only on building a wall at the line of junction wholly on your land.

You should also draft (or have your surveyor draft) and send with your notice the response letter that the adjoining owner can use to respond, which the government template calls the “Acknowledgement of Line of Junction Notice”. Again, there are two slightly differing variations to match the Line of Junction Notices:

One if you want to try to get consent to build an astride the boundary wall.
The other if you do not want to build an astride the boundary wall and plan only on building a wall at the line of junction wholly on your land.

The following are descriptions of the substance of our templates that are based on the government templates.

The substance of our Line of Junction Notice (Astride the Boundary Wall) is as follows.

It states your intention to rely on your rights in Section 1 of the Act to build on or at the boundary / line of junction.
It refers to the government’s explanatory booklet and a link to it.
It states that you want to build an astride the boundary wall, outlines expense information and describes the proposed works. The description should include anything that an adjoining owner would want or need to know, such as information about the new wall’s foundations, its height, thickness, length, the materials to be used, etc. You can send with the notice any drawings you have (i.e. architectural / structural) and cross-refer to those where helpful.
It then asks for written consent within 14 days if the adjoining owner consents to the astride the boundary wall and highlights that you and the adjoining owner will be considered in dispute and face the Act’s dispute resolution process if the adjoining owner does not for any reason respond within that time.
It then says that, in the event that they do not consent, then, in accordance with your rights under the Act, you will build at the line of junction a wall wholly on your land at your own expense. It states (to assuage concerns) that you’ll be responsible for compensating the adjoining owner for any damage caused to their property (which, under the Act, you are). Then it provides for a description of the proposed wall wholly on your land. This information should be anything that an adjoining owner would want or need to know, such as information about its foundations, its height, thickness, length, the materials to be used, etc. You can send with the notice any drawings you have (i.e. architectural / structural) and cross-refer to those where helpful.
It then adds that you are legally entitled to undertake such work under the Act to build a wall at the line of junction wholly on your land and do not need consent but asks for the adjoining owner to confirm whether or not they would nevertheless like to raise a dispute, which would then trigger a requirement to appoint one or more surveyors and go through a dispute resolution process prior to the work commencing.
It provides your proposed works start date. For new walls at the line of junction, the Act allows you to start works any date 1 month after the day on which you served the notice (with the notice lasting 12 months after the day you served it). You’d need to specifically seek written agreement from the adjoining owner if you’d like your proposed start date to be earlier than 1 month from the date you served the notice. You could include here “[your specific earlier date] or as soon as possible thereafter” rather than only your specific earlier date in case that date shifts later for any reason.
It asks if the adjoining owner will agree to using an agreed surveyor in the event of a dispute under the Act (who you can name in the notice or otherwise just say details of whom will be dealt with later).
Provides your consent to send any notice or document by email and provides your email address. Asks for consent from the adjoining owner to send any further notices and documents by email. You’d have to get consent from them in writing — by email is fine — in advance of sending the initial notice if you want to email the initial notice.

The substance of our Line of Junction Notice (Astride the Boundary Wall) Acknowledgement is as follows:

That the adjoining owner does or does not consent to your astride the boundary wall (note that not consenting to this doesn’t automatically mean that there is a dispute under the Act, rather it just means that you’ll have to build the wall at the line of junction wholly on your land).
If not consenting to the astride the boundary wall, whether or not they would like to raise a dispute at this stage in respect of the alternative of you building a wall wholly on your land. (A response saying that they do not wish to raise a dispute doesn’t prevent them from raising the dispute later on.)
If they consent or not to:
your proposed start date if earlier than 1 month or longer after they were served notice by you (if they do not consent to the earlier start date then you can only start after the 1 month notice period has passed)
receiving further communications by email (not agreeing just means you’d have to serve any further notice or documentation in any other way permitted under the Act — see above under Get familiar with Party Wall terminology > To “Serve” a Notice).
Their preference regarding the appointment of any surveyor in the event of a dispute under the Act, namely whether or not:
they agree with your proposed surveyor to act as an agreed surveyor, or
they propose an alternative surveyor to act as agreed surveyor.

The substance of our Line of Junction Notice (Wall Wholly on My Land) is as follows (which is effectively the same as the Astride the Boundary form, except omitting the Astride the Boundary part):

It states your intention to rely on your rights in Section 1 of the Act to build at the boundary / line of junction.
It refers to the government’s explanatory booklet and a link to it.
It then says that, in the event they do not consent then, in accordance with your rights under the Act, you will build at the line of junction a wall wholly on your land at your own expense. It states (to assuage concerns) that you’ll be responsible for compensating the adjoining owner for any damage caused to their property (which, under the Act, you are). Then it provides for a description of the proposed wall wholly on your land. This information should be anything that an adjoining owner would want or need to know, such as information about its foundations, its height, thickness, length, the materials to be used, etc. You can send with the notice any drawings you have (i.e. architectural / structural) and cross-refer to those where helpful.
It then adds that you are legally entitled to undertake such work under the Act to build a wall at the line of junction wholly on your land and do not need consent but asks for the adjoining owner to confirm whether or not they would nevertheless like to raise a dispute, which would then trigger a requirement to appoint one or more surveyors and go through a dispute resolution process prior to the work commencing.
It provides your proposed works start date. For new walls at the line of junction, the Act allows you to start works any date 1 month after the day on which you served the notice (with the notice lasting 12 months after the day you served it). You’d need to specifically seek written agreement from the adjoining owner if you’d like your proposed start date to be earlier than 1 month from the date you served the notice. You could include here “[your specific earlier date] or as soon as possible thereafter” rather than only your specific earlier date in case that date shifts later for any reason.
It asks if the adjoining owner will agree to using an agreed surveyor in the event of a dispute under the Act (who you can name in the notice or otherwise just say details of whom will be dealt with later).
Provides your consent to send any notice or document by email and provides your email address. Asks for consent from the adjoining owner to send any further notices and documents by email. You’d have to get consent from them in writing — by email is fine — in advance of sending the initial notice if you want to email the initial notice.

The substance of our Line of Junction Notice (Wall Wholly on My Land) Acknowledgement is as follows (virtually identical to the Astride the Boundary version just omitting the Astride the Boundary consent at the beginning):

Whether or not they would like to raise a dispute at this stage in respect of your building a wall wholly on your land. (A response saying that they do not wish to raise a dispute doesn’t prevent them from raising the dispute later on.)
If they consent or not to:
your proposed start date if earlier than 1 month or longer after they were served notice by you (if they do not consent to the earlier start date then you can only start after the 1 month notice period has passed)
receiving further communications by email (not agreeing just means you’d have to serve any further notice or documentation in any other way permitted under the Act — see above under Get familiar with Party Wall terminology > To “Serve” a Notice).
Their preference regarding the appointment of any surveyor in the event of a dispute under the Act, namely whether or not:
they agree with your proposed surveyor to act as an agreed surveyor, or
they propose an alternative surveyor to act as agreed surveyor.

You’ll see that for notices in relation to existing walls and structures, the adjoining owner can elect to serve a counter-notice. This isn’t provided for under the Act in relation to new build walls or excavations. However, it’s entirely possible that the neighbour will want to put forward certain of their own requests or requirements in relation to a new party wall or excavations. Hopefully you’ve already spoken with the neighbour, know what those might be and can factor them in in advance of sending your notice so that no counter-notice is required. If not, you may need to adapt the templates to allow for the counter-notice mechanism if you can. Otherwise, engage a surveyor to handle things.

Party Structure Notices

This kind of notice needs to be served at least 2 months prior to works commencing. The date you serve the notice is the first day of that 2 month period.

The notice will expire and you will need to serve a new notice if your works have not commenced within 12 months of the date you serve the notice.

Information on how to serve the notice is above under Get familiar with Party Wall terminology > To “Serve” a Notice.

The substance of our Party Structure Notice is as follows (almost the same as the Line of Junction Notice but with a couple of differences):

States your intention to rely on your rights in Section 2 of the Act to make alterations to or otherwise do work to an existing party wall, party fence wall or party structure, as applicable.
A reference to the government’s explanatory booklet and a link to it.
Sets out details of your proposed works and refers to Sections 11-14 of the Act, which cover how expenses in relation to party wall structures are to be handled. The description of the proposed works should be anything that an adjoining owner would want to know, such as what specific alterations or repairs you plan to undertake, how those will be done and what materials will be used, etc. If your works involve special foundations (meaning foundations in which an assemblage of beams or rods is employed for the purpose of distributing any load), you need to specify this also. You can send with the notice any drawings you have (i.e. architectural / structural) and cross-refer to those where helpful or, in the case of special foundations, you must send plans, sections and details of construction of the special foundations together with reasonable particulars of the loads to be carried by those special foundations.
Asks that the adjoining owner completes, signs and returns an Party Structure Notice Acknowledgement within 14 days of the date you served your notice, and sets out how they can elect to send a counter-notice if desired (which they are entitled to do under the Act in response to a Party Structure Notice). The adjoining owner may want to adjust plans to accommodate any of the elements set out in Section 4(1) of the Act. You are obliged to accommodate any such request unless it would be injurious to you, cause unnecessary convenience to you or cause unnecessary delay in the execution of the works pursuant to the Party Structure Notice. It’s worth bearing in mind though that if you do object and the adjoining owner persists, you’ll face having to engage one or more party wall surveyors and go through the Act’s dispute resolution process so weigh up which is the greater of those two potentials.
Notes that although you are legally entitled to undertake the proposed work under the Act (expect for special foundations on the adjoining owner’s land), an adjoining owner would, by not consenting or not consenting within 14 days, trigger a requirement to appoint one or more surveyors to go through a dispute resolution process prior to the work commencing. It also adds that the same will occur in the event that you do not reply within 14 days to any counter-notice the adjoining owner serves on you in response to your Party Structure Notice.
Provides your proposed works start date. The Act allows you to start works any date 2 months after the day on which you served the notice (with the notice lasting 12 months from the day you served it). You’d need to specifically seek written agreement from the adjoining owner if you’d like your proposed start date to be earlier than 2 months from the date you served the notice. You could include here “[your specific earlier date] or thereafter” rather than only your specific earlier date in case that date shifts later for any reason.
Asks if, in that event or if a dispute arises later for any reason, the adjoining owner will agree to using an agreed surveyor (who you can name in the notice) or, if not, asks them to let you know who their proposed surveyor would be.
Provides your consent to send any notice or document by email and provides your email address. Asks for consent from the adjoining owner to send any further notices and documents by email. (You’d have to get consent from them in writing — by email is fine — in advance of sending the initial notice if you want to email the initial notice.)

The substance of our Party Structure Notice Acknowledgement is as follows:

that the adjoining owner does or does not consent to:
your proposed works OR consents subject to their counter-notice that you accommodate their requests under Section 4(1) of the Act (which you must then reply within 14 days to with your consent or dissent)
your proposed start date if earlier than 2 months from the date they were served notice by you (if they do not consent to the earlier start date then you can only start after the 2 month notice period has passed)
receiving further communications by email (not agreeing just means you’d have to serve any further notice or documentation in any other way permitted under the Act — see above under Get familiar with Party Wall terminology > To “Serve” a Notice).
Their preference regarding the appointment of any surveyor in the event of a dispute under the Act, namely whether or not:
they agree with your proposed surveyor to act as an agreed surveyor, or
they propose an alternative surveyor to act as agreed surveyor.

In the event that you are served with a notice under any statutory provisions relating to dangerous or neglected structures, you are not required to serve an adjoining owner a party structure notice before complying with that notice.

Adjacent Excavation Notices

This kind of notice needs to be served at least 1 month prior to works commencing. The date you serve the notice is the first day of that 1 month period.

The notice will expire and you will need to serve a new notice if your works have not commenced within 12 months of the date you serve the notice.

Information on how to serve the notice is above under Get familiar with Party Wall terminology > To “Serve” a Notice.

The substance of the Adjacent Excavation Notice (the 3/6 Metre Notice as the government templates are called) is almost the same as the Line of Junction Notice but with a couple of differences:

States your intention to rely on your rights in Section 6 of the Act (to excavate either within 3 metres of the adjoining owner’s building to a level lower than the bottom of the adjoining owner’s foundations or within 6 metres of the adjoining owner’s building to a level lower than a line drawn at 45° downwards towards your adjacent land from the bottom of the adjoining owner’s foundations).
A reference to the government’s explanatory booklet and a link to it.
Sets out details of your proposed works and refers to Sections 11-14 of the Act, which cover how expenses are to be handled. The description of the proposed works should be anything that an adjoining owner would want or need to know, such as what excavations, where and what depth, and for what purpose including any building works information such as foundations and other construction, etc. That information should be detailed and specific enough for the reader to know whether the excavations and/or construction you plan to undertake fall under Section 6(1) or 6(2) of the Act. You should also expressly specify whether or not, at your own expense, you plan to underpin or otherwise strengthen or safeguard the foundations of the building or structure of the adjoining owner so far as may be necessary (and, if not, probably it’s best to explain why because an adjoining owner can require it if need be). Additionally, your notice must be accompanied by plans and sections showing at least (a) the site and depth of any excavation your propose to make and (b) the site of any building or structure you intend to erect. You may wish to also include and cross-refer to more fulsome architectural and/or structural drawings.
Asks that the adjoining owner completes, signs and returns an Excavation Notice Acknowledgement within 14 days of the date you served your notice.
Notes that although you are legally entitled to undertake the proposed work under the Act, an adjoining owner would, by not consenting or not consenting within 14 days, trigger a requirement to appoint one or more surveyors to go through a dispute resolution process prior to the work commencing.
Provides your proposed works start date. The Act allows you to start works any date 1 month after the day on which you served the notice (with the notice lasting 12 months from the day you served it). You’d need to specifically seek written agreement from the adjoining owner if you’d like your proposed start date to be earlier than 1 month from the date you served the notice. You could include “[your specific earlier date] or thereafter” rather than only your specific earlier date in case that date shifts later for any reason.
Asks if, in that event or if a dispute arises later for any reason, the adjoining owner will agree to using an agreed surveyor (who you can name in the notice) or, if not, asks them to let you know who their proposed surveyor would be.
Provides your consent to send any notice or document by email and provides your email address. Asks for consent from the adjoining owner to send any further notices and documents by email. (You’d have to get consent from them in writing — by email is fine — in advance of sending the initial notice if you want to email the initial notice.)

The substance of our Adjacent Excavation Notice Acknowledgement is as follows:

that the adjoining owner does or does not consent to your proposed works
whether or not the adjoining owner requires you, at your expense, to underpin or otherwise strengthen or safeguard the foundations of their building or structure so far as may be necessary. Whether or not you propose doing so in your notice is optional (though you should state whether you will or will not) but the adjoining owner can nevertheless require it.
If they consent or not to:
your proposed start date if earlier than 1 month or longer after they were served notice by you (if they do not consent to the earlier start date then you can only start after the 1 month notice period has passed)
receiving further communications by email (not agreeing just means you’d have to serve any further notice or documentation in any other way permitted under the Act — see above under Get familiar with Party Wall Act terminology > To “Serve” a Notice).
Their preference regarding the appointment of any surveyor in the event of a dispute under the Act, namely whether or not:
they agree with your proposed surveyor to act as an agreed surveyor, or
they propose an alternative surveyor to act as agreed surveyor.

STEP 4 — Commence works or go through dispute resolution process

If your neighbour consents (or, in respect of a Party Structure Notice, conditionally consents and you consent to their proposed alterations), then you’re good to go. Remember that if they consent to a proposed earlier start date then you can start from that earlier date. If not, you need to wait until the 1 or 2 month period passes, as applicable.

If your neighbour does not consent or does not reply to any notice within the required periods (or, in respect of a Party Structure Notice, has consented conditionally upon you altering plans slightly to accommodate the changes that they’re entitled to propose under Section 4(1) and you do not consent to those changes within 14 days), then you’ll have to go through the dispute resolution process.

Any decent party wall surveyor you appoint will no doubt go through all of the dispute resolution process with you so there’s no real benefit in us laying it all out in full detail but to summarise so that you have a rough idea of what to expect:

You appoint an agreed surveyor if the adjoining owner has agreed to using the same surveyor. If not, you’d each appoint a surveyor (at your cost) and those surveyors are required under the Act to appoint a 3^rd surveyor. If the adjoining owner wants to use their own surveyor, you should serve a notice on the adjoining owner in writing that they have 10 days to do so.
if one party refuses to appoint a surveyor or neglects to do so within 10 days from the date they have been requested to do so, the other party can make the appointment on their behalf (this is to stop one party from dragging their feet)
if a surveyor refuses to act effectively, or if they neglect to act effectively for 10 days from the date a request has been made of them by either party or the other surveyor, the surveyor of the other party can act for both parties (i.e. in effect as an agreed surveyor)
the 3^rd surveyor would be used as an arbiter, primarily in case of any deadlock between the other 2 surveyors but can also be called upon by either party to determine disputed matters and make the party award (in practice, the 2 surveyors should be able to come to an agreement without involving the 3^rd surveyor and incurring the additional fees)
The surveyor(s) will prepare any Schedule of Condition if not already done and will make “an award” (in other words, create a party wall agreement) that should set out what works are to be undertaken, the rights to execute the works, the time and manner of carrying out those works, attribution of costs, and anything else that might be pertinent.
The surveyor(s) (or the 3^rd surveyor if called upon to do so) will serve that “award” on both parties (i.e. you and your neighbour).
The “award” is conclusive and cannot be contested by any party except upon appeal to the county court within 14 days of the award is made.

Keep them in a safe place (and if digital, best make digital copies and save them digitally on a couple of different devices and/or in the cloud). You’ll need them if/when the time comes to sell your property.

Other Key Things

Costs

Who Pays What

The building owner pays expenses, except for the following situations:

A new astride the boundary wall should be paid for in proportion to the use made or to be made of it by each party (based on the cost of labour and materials as at the time that use is made). In other words, if you and your neighbour are concurrently doing an extension using the full new astride the boundary wall, you share the cost 50% / 50% unless you arrange otherwise. If you use the wall’s full length and they only use three quarters, maybe you agree 62.5% / 37.5%. If your neighbour doesn’t plan to make any use of the wall, then it would be 100% / 0%. If they wanted to use the full length and height of the wall for their own extension which they build 10 years in the future, then they pay 50% of whatever the cost of labour and materials would be as of that date (or you could agree to keep it simple and just go off the old cost if you so choose).
The same proportionate costs split (again based on costs as of the time use is made) applies also for any works carried out and paid solely by a building owner which an adjoining owner subsequently wants to use.
In respect of an existing party wall or structure:
Where it is necessary to underpin, thicken or raise a party structure, a party fence wall, or an external wall which belongs to the building owner and is built against a party structure or party fence wall because the structure or wall is defective or in need of repair, cost should be in proportion to the use each party makes of the structure or wall and responsibility for the defect or need of repair.
Where it is necessary to make good, repair, or demolish and rebuild, a party structure or party fence wall because the structure or wall is defective or in need of repair, cost should be in proportion to the use each party makes of the structure or wall and to responsibility for the defect or need of repair.
A building owner has the right to demolish a party structure which is of insufficient strength or height for the purposes of any intended building of the building owner and to rebuild it of sufficient strength or height for those purposes (including rebuilding to a lesser height or thickness where the rebuilt structure is of sufficient strength and height for the purposes of any adjoining owner). Where this involves laying open the premises of the adjoining owner “a fair allowance” in respect of disturbance and inconvenience is to be paid by the building owner to the adjoining owner or occupier. Laying open basically means exposing (i.e. you pull down the party wall leaving open part of their premises). There is no specification in the Act for what “a fair allowance” means. If you’re facing this kind of cost issue though, you’ll almost certainly have surveyors involved and they’ll then make that decision.
Where a building owner plans to reduce, or to demolish and rebuild, a party wall or party fence wall (a) to a height of two metres or more where the wall is not used by an adjoining owner to any greater extent than a boundary wall or (b) to a height currently enclosed upon by the adjoining owner’s building, the adjoining owner may require the building owner to maintain the existing height of the wall. The adjoining owner then has to pay the proportion of the cost of the wall so far as it exceeds 2 metres in height or the height currently enclosed upon by the adjoining owner’s building.
The adjoining owner should pay the expenses of carrying out any works they request or require.
In respect of special foundations, if an adjoining owner consents to special foundations on their land and in the future builds on their own land and that building work costs more than it would have due to the special foundations being on their land, then the owner of the building to which the special foundations belong should pay to the adjoining owner the amount of the extra cost (where the owner of the building to which the special foundations belong receives an account with any necessary invoices and other supporting documents within 2 months of the completion of the adjoining owner’s works).

The building owner is also liable to compensate any adjoining owner and any adjoining occupier for any loss or damage they incur due to the works the building owner undertakes.

Security for Expenses

Probably the reality is that if you end up dealing with this part of the Act, you’ll be working with one or more surveyors. In case not or in case it’s useful to have the overview anyway, it’s worth knowing that security for expenses can be requested.

Before work begins, the adjoining owner can serve notice on a building owner asking for the building owner to provide security with respect to expenses that will become due. If requested, this is to be agreed between owners or it will be determined as part of the dispute resolution process. This is to prevent or mitigate against a situation where a building owner may agree works with an adjoining owner and agree to pay to the adjoining owner a certain amount (i.e. for making good various anticipated damages to their land) but the building owner does the work and then elects not to pay the adjoining owner. The building owner can respond with their own request for security from the adjoining owner or can request security from an adjoining owner where the adjoining owner has requested or required certain works and will be liable for those costs. If the adjoining owner doesn’t reply to that notice from the building owner, the building owner can disregard the adjoining owner’s initial notice.

Accounting for Work Carried Out

Where any expenses are to be paid by an adjoining owner, within 2 months of the work completing, the building owner is to serve on the adjoining owner an account in writing of the particulars and expenses of the work and any deductions to which the adjoining owner or any other person is entitled in respect of old materials or otherwise. The work is to be estimated and valued at fair average rates and prices according to the nature of the work, the locality and the cost of labour and materials prevailing at the time when the work is done. The adjoining owner then has 1 month to object to such an account if desired. If the adjoining owner does object, it’ll be a dispute under the Act and you’ll need to get one or more surveyors involved. If the adjoining owner doesn’t object within the 1 month from being served with the building owner’s account, then it’s deemed to have been accepted. If the adjoining owner doesn’t pay, the property in any works executed to which the expenses relate will be owned solely by the building owner until the adjoining owner does pay.

Other Rights and Liabilities

Unnecessary Inconvenience to Adjoining Owner

The building owner cannot undertake works in a manner or at such time as to cause unnecessary inconvenience to any adjoining owner or to any adjoining occupier.

Laying Open Adjoining Owner Property

Where the works of a building owner lays open any part of the adjoining land or building, the building owner has to, at the building owner’s expense, make and maintain so long as may be necessary a proper hoarding, shoring or fans or temporary construction for the protection of the adjoining land or building and the security of any adjoining occupier.

No Deviating From Plan Without Agreement

The building owner must execute the works in accordance with the plans, sections and particulars agreed with the adjoining owner(s). Any deviation has to be agreed with the adjoining owner(s).

Access to Adjoining Owner Property

The building owner and his or her agents, workmen and/or surveyor may during usual working hours enter and remain on any land or premises of an adjoining owner to carry out works that their entitled to carry out under the Act. That includes removal of any furniture or fittings or taking any other action necessary for carrying out such works.

To do so, the building owner must serve a notice on the adjoining owner and any adjoining occupier a notice of intention at least 14 days in advance of entering.

If it is an emergency, the notice need only be served if the building owner is reasonably able to serve one. If need be, the adjoining owner and his or her agents and workmen may break open any fences or doors in order to enter the premises if accompanied by a police officer.

If an occupier of land or premises refuses to permit the building owner, his or her agents, workmen and/or surveyor from doing anything that they are entitled to do and the occupier knows or has reasonable cause to believe of that entitlement, the occupier will be guilty of an offence and will be liable on summary conviction to a fine. Likewise for anyone who hinders or obstructs a person attempting to do anything which they are entitled to do.

Key Differences Between Our Templates And The Government’s And Why

The Notices

Expenses

The government templates make no reference to who will cover costs. From an adjoining owner perspective, it is vital to know who will be paying for what before consenting to it. It would be bad if an adjoining owner consented to the wall only to later discover that they were liable to pay for up to 50% and raised a dispute when you were in the midst of the building works. You could handle expenses separately and informally but it’s such an important part of the arrangement that it really needs addressed upfront, and it should really be in writing in the notice with corresponding agreement by the adjoining owner in their reply.

Implications Of Not Replying Within 14 Days

The government templates don’t elaborate, for the benefit of an adjoining owner, on why the 14 day response period is there. It’s best not to assume that the adjoining owner knows where that 14 day period comes from or that they’ll go find out. Not specifying what happens if they don’t respond within 14 days just leaves you open to the real chance that the adjoining owner doesn’t respond within 14 days purely because they’re unaware of the implications. It’s better therefore for the notice to indicate why there’s a 14 day period.

A Wall Wholly On Your Land

The government Line of Junction template just says that if the adjoining owner doesn’t consent to the astride the boundary wall then you’ll go ahead and build the wall wholly on your land. We put in reference to a wall wholly on your land separately from the astride the boundary wall paragraph and description. That’s because, under the Act, you’re required to send a notice to an adjoining owner regarding any proposed wall wholly on your land at the line of junction and describe it in some detail. The government template does technically allow for that with some significant editing but it’s not terribly clear so we felt the need to really hit that one home and ensure we covered off the Act’s requirements properly.

In doing so, we omitted the government template’s specific reference to projecting foundations because you should really cover that off in the description of the wall anyway. If it ends up in your description, as it should if relevant, then there’s no need for any separate specific reference to it.

We also add that, per the Act, you will be responsible for compensating for any damage to the adjoining owner’s property. This is to try to assuage concerns an adjoining owner might have about your proposal to build a wall wholly on your land.

We also state that you are legally entitled to undertake such work under the Act but ask the adjoining owner to confirm whether or not they would nevertheless like to raise a dispute and highlight what that will entail. Again, we think that it’s best not to assume that the adjoining owner is, or will quickly become, familiar with the Act or knows that you’re entitled to undertake such works. It’s better to be clear and upfront about it. The reality is that an adjoining owner may raise a dispute anyway even though you don’t need their consent for a wall wholly on your land that’s built with regular foundations and after the 1 month notice period. We therefore added text asking the adjoining owner to confirm one way or the other because we think it’s better to find that out sooner rather than later frankly.

Special Foundations

The government Line of Junction Notice templates include a special foundations paragraph that is an optional add-in. We have omitted that and suggest that you engage a professional if you’re contemplating using special foundations in relation to new building on the line of junction.

Firstly, Section 1 of the Act, which covers new building on the line of junction, doesn’t actually refer to or deal with special foundations at all. Special foundations only come up in relation to the rights of related to existing structures in Section 2. The adjoining owner is entitled to send a counter-notice in response to any notice from a building owner in respect of work to existing structures, setting out their own requirements for such work that may include adjustments to the special foundations plans. The options for dealing with special foundations in respect of new building at the line of junction are therefore to include special foundations information in the notice from the building owner and also factor in the counter-notice mechanics into the Line of Junction Acknowledgement letter from an adjoining owner or to omit special foundations entirely from a Line of Junction Notice.

Secondly, including special foundations provisions gets complicated and, probably in the majority of cases, special foundations aren’t terribly relevant for new building on line of junctions for residential renovations, which mostly use standard strip and/or pad foundations. If you do need to deal with special foundations in relation to a wall at the line of junction, then it’s probably best to just bring in a surveyor at the beginning and let them handle things for you.

The government Party Structure Notice template has a separate paragraph for special foundations, to which the adjoining owner can separately consent or dissent. We don’t see any point to obtaining an Party Structure Notice Acknowledgement providing a partial consent and a partial dissent given the latter would immediately result in a dispute under the Act. Therefore, we opted for an adjoining owner consenting to all works or dissenting to all works.

Surveyor Information

The government templates suggest including a request for the adjoining owner to provide details of their own preferred surveyor in the event that they don’t want to use an agreed surveyor. There’s something to be said for that — if the adjoining owner intends to raise a dispute and wants to use a surveyor of their own, then it’s probably better to know sooner rather than later who that surveyor would be. The flip side though is that it makes the adjoining owner’s response harder — they have to go and find their own surveyor to name, which will probably take some time. It’s probably also best not to present the option of having a separate surveyor upfront like that. They’re entitled to use their own surveyor, at your cost, but due to the unnecessary costs involved, it really should be discouraged for common residential works and it can be addressed later easily if need be.

Emails

The trouble with the government templates in this respect is that they really only cover adjoining owner consent to continued use of their email. It doesn’t cover your consent to the adjoining owner for them to be able to send you anything by email. It also doesn’t cover the initial consent you’d need from an adjoining owner to send the notice in the first place (to do that, for example, you could just try to get them to send an email saying they consent to your sending documents to their email address).

The Act’s requirements are unfortunately a little awkward, especially given the prevalence of email use these days. Basically, in order to use emails, each recipient (i.e. you and any adjoining owner) needs to consent in writing, provide the email address to use (you can then send documents only to that email and not any other email of theirs) and not withdraw consent to use email.

Line of Junction Notice Naming

We changed the name of the Line of Junction Notice that covers only a wall at the line of junction wholly on your land. The government template title for it calls it a Line of Junction Notice (Wholly on Your Land). Yes, it’s a wall wholly on your land, if you are the building owner, but if we call the document “Line of Junction Notice (Wall Wholly on Your Land)”, upon receiving it, any adjoining owner unfamiliar with the Act is going to immediately interpret that as you planning to build a wall on their land. It’s probably best not to risk confusion or alarming an adjoining owner so we therefore elected to call this notice the Line of Junction Notice (Wholly on Building Owner Land) so it’s clearer.

The Acknowledgments

Special Foundations

A Positive Acknowledgment & Negative Acknowledgment Versus One Acknowledgement

Having a template for a positive acknowledgement and a negative acknowledgment seemed unnecessary to us when we could just include one acknowledgement template that either provides consent or dissent.

Consents, Counter-Notices and Timings

For alterations to existing party walls (Section 2), the Act allows for an adjoining owner to send a counter-notice if they wish to make certain permitted adjustments to your proposed works (see Section 4(1)), which you in turn have to accept unless those adjustments would be injurious or cause unnecessary inconvenience or unnecessary delay to you.

Firstly, the government Party Structure Notice and Party Structure Notice Acknowledgement templates don’t really allow for this at all.

Secondly, the Act clearly specifies certain timings. An adjoining owner can send a counter-notice within 1 month of the date you serve the Party Structure Notice on that adjoining owner. You must consent to that counter-notice within 14 days to avoid a dispute. That is do-able. The adjoining owner must consent to your initial notice within 14 days to avoid a dispute also however. The timings set out in the Act are therefore in conflict — if an adjoining owner sends a counter-notice more than 14 days after being served your initial notice, even though permitted by the Act, you’ll be in dispute and the dispute resolution provisions kick in. In practice, the adjoining owner therefore only has 14 days to send any counter-notice and, not only that, but because the adjoining owner must have consented within the 14 days to avoid a dispute, that counter-notice must in effect be a conditional consent that consents to your proposed works subject to the adjoining owner’s proposed changes. We therefore built in the counter-notice mechanism and specified a 14 day period for response.

A Small Tip For Big Tips

If Renoviva has helped you, you can help Renoviva by leaving us a tip.

TIP JAR

Pass It On

Think others would find this page useful? Message it. Email it. Post it.

Make Connections

Come mingle with other renovators like you. Get support and share your experiences.

Forum

The Party Wall Act

What

Why

Bearing in mind the Act’s fundamental purposes

When

How

A note about Party Wall Act DIY

Fundamentals

STEP 1 — Get familiar with Party Wall Act terminology

Party

Party Wall

Party Fence Wall

Party Structure

Building Owner, Adjoining Owner & Adjoining Occupier

Building owner and adjoining owner Examples

Surveyor and Agreed Surveyor

Schedule of Condition

Who’s to blame?

Line of Junction Notice

Party Structure Notice

Adjacent Excavation Notice

Special Foundations

To “Serve” a Notice

A Party Wall Award / Award / Party Wall Agreement

STEP 2 — Consider if your work falls under the Act

STEP 3 — If the Act applies, speak with neighbours and handle notifications

Speak With Your Neighbours

Notices

Party Wall Notice Templates(Word)

Party Wall Notice Templates(OpenDoc)

Line of Junction Notices

Party Structure Notices

Adjacent Excavation Notices

STEP 4 — Commence works or go through dispute resolution process

Other Key Things

Costs

Who Pays What

Security for Expenses

Accounting for Work Carried Out

Other Rights and Liabilities

Unnecessary Inconvenience to Adjoining Owner

Laying Open Adjoining Owner Property

No Deviating From Plan Without Agreement

Access to Adjoining Owner Property

Flowchart

Useful Links

Party Wall Notice Templates(Word)

Party Wall Notice Templates(OpenDoc)

Key Differences Between Our Templates And The Government’s And Why

The Notices

Expenses

Implications Of Not Replying Within 14 Days

A Wall Wholly On Your Land

Special Foundations

Surveyor Information

Emails

Line of Junction Notice Naming

The Acknowledgments

Special Foundations

A Positive Acknowledgment & Negative Acknowledgment Versus One Acknowledgement

Consents, Counter-Notices and Timings

A Small Tip For Big Tips

Pass It On

Make Connections

Party Wall Notice Templates
(Word)

Party Wall Notice Templates
(OpenDoc)

Party Wall Notice Templates
(Word)

Party Wall Notice Templates
(OpenDoc)