Counter-notice or reply?
Many people use “counter-notice” loosely to mean any reply to a notice. Strictly, your reply consenting or dissenting is a response under s.5 or s.6(7). A counter-notice is a distinct notice under s.4 that asks for additional works. You can reply to the notice and serve a counter-notice; they do different jobs.
What you can ask for
| Type of requirement | Examples | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Works built in or on the party structure or party fence wall for your convenience | Chimney copings, breasts, jambs or flues; piers or recesses; “other like works” reasonably required | s.4(1)(a) |
| Special foundations (where you have consented to them on your land) | Placed at a specified greater depth than proposed, or built strong enough to carry columns of your intended building, or both | s.4(1)(b), s.7(4) |
| Maintaining the height of a wall the building owner proposes to reduce | Keeping a garden or party wall at its current height | s.11(7), s.2(2)(m) |
“Special foundations” means foundations using an assemblage of beams or rods to distribute load, typically reinforced concrete (s.20). The building owner cannot place them on your land without your written consent (s.7(4)). If you do consent, a counter-notice lets you have them designed to suit your own later extension.
The rules for a valid counter-notice
- Timing: served within one month beginning with the day the party structure notice was served (s.4(2)(b)).
- Content: it must specify the works required and be accompanied by plans, sections and particulars of them (s.4(2)(a)). In practice that normally means involving an architect or engineer.
- Service: by a method permitted under s.15.
- The building owner’s response: if they do not consent within 14 days, a dispute is deemed to arise (s.5) and surveyors decide.
The counter-notice right in s.4 attaches to party structure notices. There is no equivalent counter-notice to a s.6 excavation notice, but under s.6(3) the building owner must, if you require it, underpin or otherwise strengthen or safeguard your foundations so far as necessary, at their own expense.
When the building owner can refuse
Under s.4(3) the building owner must comply unless the works required would (a) be injurious to them, (b) cause unnecessary inconvenience to them, or (c) cause unnecessary delay in the execution of their works. Where the owners disagree, the surveyors decide.
Who pays: s.11(9)
Works carried out at your request or requirement are at your expense (s.11(9)). For special foundations made deeper or stronger for your benefit, you pay the additional cost. The surveyors may also allocate part of their fees to you where they relate to your counter-notice works.
Security for expenses: s.12
Because you are asking the building owner to do work you will pay for, they may, before starting it, serve notice requiring you to give security for those expenses (s.12(2)(a)). The amount is agreed between you or, if disputed, determined by the surveyors. If you do not provide it within one month of the notice, or of the surveyors’ determination, your requirement ceases to have effect (s.12(3)). Conversely, you can require the building owner to give security before they begin work under the Act (s.12(1)), which can be requested where there is a greater risk of issues than with other building works, which is why it is most often used in basement situations; see security for expenses.
Account and payment after the work
Within two months of completing work whose cost you are to bear, the building owner must serve an account with particulars and expenses, valued at fair average rates (s.13(1)). You then have one month to object, in which case a dispute is deemed to arise; if you do not object, you are deemed to have no objection (s.13(2), s.13(3)).
A building owner serves a party structure notice to raise the party wall for a loft conversion. Mr K, next door, plans to install a wood-burning stove in his own loft room within two years. Within a month, he serves a counter-notice under s.4(1)(a) with a short specification and drawings from his engineer, requiring a flue to be built into the raised section. The building owner’s surveyor agrees it can be built without delay. The building owner asks for security under s.12(2); the surveyors agree a modest sum, which Mr K pays to a stakeholder. After completion, the building owner serves an account under s.13 and the cost of the flue works is deducted from the security. Mr K’s future stove installation is simpler and cheaper.
This is an illustrative scenario to show how the Act works in practice. It is not a real case, and the outcome on any real project depends on its own facts.
Checklist: should you serve a counter-notice?
- Do you have firm plans that would benefit from works being built now?
- Will doing it now be cheaper than doing it later?
- Can you obtain plans, sections and particulars within one month?
- Are you prepared to pay for the works and provide security if asked?
- Have you taken advice from a surveyor or engineer on whether the request is reasonable?
Related: party structure notices, who pays your surveyor and receiving a notice.
Key points
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Which notices can I counter? | Party structure notices (s.4(1)) |
| Deadline | One month from service of the party structure notice (s.4(2)(b)) |
| What must it include? | Specification, plans, sections and particulars (s.4(2)(a)) |
| Can the building owner refuse? | Only on the grounds in s.4(3); disputes go to surveyors |
| Who pays? | You, for the works you require (s.11(9)) |
| Security | The building owner can require it before starting (s.12(2)) |
Counter-notices are uncommon in residential work, and that is not a reason to avoid them. They make most sense where your own plans are firm and the extra work is small compared with the cost and disruption of doing it later. If your plans are only a possibility, it is usually better not to commit to paying for works you may never use.
How surveyors deal with a disputed counter-notice
If the building owner does not consent to your counter-notice within 14 days, a dispute is deemed to arise (s.5). The surveyors will consider whether your requirements are works of the kind s.4(1) allows, whether they are reasonably required for your convenience, and whether any of the s.4(3) grounds apply. They can then include the works in the Award, with drawings, timing, the cost you will bear and any security.
Common mistakes
- Serving a “counter-notice” that is really just a dissent, with no works specified.
- Missing the one-month deadline.
- Omitting plans, sections and particulars, which s.4(2)(a) requires.
- Not budgeting for the cost of the works and any security.
How we can help
We have handled party wall matters on more than 750 projects, acting for building owners and adjoining owners. If you have received a notice, we can prepare a Schedule of Condition of your property, act as Agreed Surveyor for both owners, or act as your own surveyor. In the normal case the building owner pays the reasonable surveyors’ fees, including ours when we act for you (s.10(13)). Call free on 08000 487897 or see your options as a neighbour.
- Received a notice? Your options as an adjoining owner
- Fixed fees: party wall agreement cost
- Do I need a party wall agreement? (1-minute check)
Areas we cover include Party Wall Agreement East Midlands · Party Wall Agreement London · Party Wall Agreement Essex and more.
Sources: Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (legislation.gov.uk) · The Party Wall etc. Act 1996: explanatory booklet (GOV.UK). Last reviewed 27 October 2026. General guidance on the law in England and Wales, not legal advice.