Party wall agreement FAQs

Serve a valid party wall notice on every adjoining owner before work starts (one month for section 1 and 6 notices, two months for a section 3 party structure notice). If your neighbour consents in writing, that is your agreement; if they dissent or do not reply within 14 days, surveyors make a Party Wall Award. We serve notices for all your neighbours for £150 + VAT. Step-by-step guide.

Notice periods are one month for section 1 and 6 notices and two months for section 3, and the neighbour has 14 days to respond. With consent, the agreement can be in place within that time. If there is a dispute, the time to make the Award varies with the works and the surveyors involved. Notice periods and timescales.

Normally the building owner, including the reasonable fees of the adjoining owner’s surveyor if the neighbour appoints their own (section 10(13)). Our fixed fees are notices £150, notices and a Schedule of Condition £499, and the full package £899 + VAT (£999 + VAT in London). Who pays, and the exceptions.

In everyday use, a party wall agreement is either your neighbour’s written consent to your party wall notice, or, if they don’t consent, a Party Wall Award drawn up by surveyors under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Both let the work go ahead lawfully and protect both owners. The Act itself never uses the word ‘agreement’, which is why the terms get confused.

You need to serve a party wall notice if you plan work to a shared wall (such as steel beams, a loft conversion or chimney breast removal), build a new wall on the boundary, or dig foundations within 3 or 6 metres of a neighbour’s building. You then need either their consent or an award before you start. Our free 1-minute checker tells you which notices are likely.

Our fees are fixed. Notices for all your neighbours cost £150 + VAT. If your neighbour consents subject to a Schedule of Condition, the total is £499 + VAT. If an award is needed, the total is £899 + VAT (£999 + VAT in London) for domestic extensions and loft conversions. Every fee is invoiced on completion.

A party wall notice is the formal letter the Act requires a building owner to serve on each adjoining owner before starting notifiable work. There are three types: a Section 1 line of junction notice, a Section 3 party structure notice and a Section 6 notice of adjacent excavation. Each has a minimum notice period of one or two months.

Yes. You can serve notices yourself, but self-served notices are often invalid, and an invalid notice can delay your build. If you want to do it yourself, our sister service partywall-notices.co.uk gives you correctly worded templates. Otherwise we can serve them for all your neighbours for £150 + VAT.

If there’s no reply within 14 days, a dispute is deemed to have arisen. We then serve a further notice giving them 10 days to appoint a surveyor (s10(4)). If they still don’t, a surveyor can be appointed on their behalf, and the award is made in the usual way.

Normally the building owner carrying out the works pays the reasonable fees of the adjoining owner’s surveyor (s10(13)). That is why it usually costs a neighbour nothing to get a party wall agreement that protects them.

No. We don’t take payment online. Each fee is fixed and quoted in advance, and the surveyor who handles your job invoices you on completion.

Don’t ignore it. Within 14 days of service, reply in writing to consent, consent subject to a Schedule of Condition, or dissent and appoint a surveyor, either the Agreed Surveyor or your own. If you’re unsure, call us free on 08000 487897 and we’ll explain your options.

Respond to their notice by dissenting and appointing a surveyor. The surveyors then make a Party Wall Award, which is the formal party wall agreement. It records your property’s condition and sets out how and when the work is done. If they haven’t served a notice yet, ask them in writing to do so before they start.

Consenting is quick, but unless you consent subject to a Schedule of Condition there is no record of your property before work starts. Dissenting is not hostile. It simply means surveyors make an award that protects both of you, and the building owner normally pays.

Under section 10(13) of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, the surveyors decide who pays, and in almost all cases it’s the building owner who is carrying out the work. That’s why appointing your own surveyor, which can be us, usually costs you nothing.

It’s a dated, detailed written and photographic record of your property near the works, made before work begins. If cracks or other damage appear later, the schedule shows they are new, which makes it simple to prove that the works caused them.

Ask them, politely and in writing, to stop and serve the notices the Act requires. Photograph your property. If work continues, you can apply to the courts for an injunction to stop it until notice is served, so take legal advice. We can contact the building owner for you.

The building owner must compensate you for any loss or damage caused by the works (s7(2)). Where there’s an award, the surveyors decide on the repairs, and you can ask for a payment instead of the building owner making good the damage (s11(8)).

You have 14 days to respond to a notice. If you don’t, a dispute is deemed to have arisen. You then get a further 10 days to appoint a surveyor after a request under s10(4). You have one month to serve a counter-notice to a Section 3 notice (s4), and 14 days to appeal an award to the county court (s10(17)).