The 14-day rule and deemed dissent

What the Act actually says

Section 5 provides that if an owner on whom a party structure notice or a counter notice has been served “does not serve a notice indicating his consent to it within the period of fourteen days beginning with the day on which the party structure notice or counter notice was served, he shall be deemed to have dissented from the notice and a dispute shall be deemed to have arisen between the parties.” Section 6(7) says the same for excavation notices.

Two points follow. Consent must be a positive, written act; a friendly chat over the fence is not consent under the Act. And “deemed dissent” is a procedural label, not a sign of hostility: it simply means the matter now has to be settled by surveyors.

Why the Act treats silence as a dispute

The Act wants every notified project to be either agreed in writing or settled by impartial surveyors. If silence counted as consent, a neighbour who was away, ill or confused by the paperwork could lose the protection of a Schedule of Condition and an Award without ever knowing. Treating silence as dissent protects them, and also protects the building owner, because work then proceeds under an Award that is binding on both sides.

Section by section

What to do when the 14 days pass

1. Check service. Confirm the notice was properly served on every owner and that the 14 days have run from service.
2. Write to the neighbour. Explain that a dispute has arisen under the Act and invite them to concur in an Agreed Surveyor or appoint their own surveyor. We send this as a formal request under section 10(4).
3. Wait 10 days. If they appoint, the process continues normally.
4. If they still do nothing, appoint a surveyor on their behalf under section 10(4). That surveyor must be a different person from yours, and the two select a third surveyor.
5. Schedule and Award. The surveyors record the neighbour’s property, agree the method and make an Award. Work can then start once the notice period has expired.

Late consent

A neighbour who consents after the 14 days is not prevented from doing so, and the owners can reach any agreement they choose. Once surveyors have been formally appointed, however, the appointments cannot be rescinded (s.10(2)), so the cleaner course is usually for the surveyors to settle matters by a simple Award. Discuss with your surveyor before treating a late consent as the end of the matter.

How to avoid deemed dissent in the first place

• Talk to the neighbours before the notice arrives. Explain the work, show the drawings and say when it should start.
• Send a clear, well-presented notice with a consent form and a stamped addressed envelope or a simple way to reply by email (if they have agreed to email service).
• Offer a Schedule of Condition. Many neighbours who would otherwise do nothing will happily “consent with a Schedule”, because it protects them.
• Follow up politely after a week. People often mean to reply and forget.

Worked example

Illustrative only. Daniel serves a party structure notice for a kitchen beam on 3 March. His neighbour, who works abroad, does not reply. On 17 March, after the 14 days beginning on 3 March have run, a dispute is deemed to have arisen. Daniel’s surveyor writes on 18 March requesting the neighbour to appoint a surveyor or agree to the Agreed Surveyor. When nothing arrives within 10 days, a separate surveyor is appointed on the neighbour’s behalf. The two surveyors inspect, take a Schedule of Condition with the help of the neighbour’s letting agent, and serve an Award in good time for Daniel’s start date in early May.

Costs where there is deemed dissent

Where the work is solely for the building owner’s benefit, the costs of the Award, including the neighbour’s surveyor’s reasonable fees, are normally ordered against the building owner (s.10(13)). That is why encouraging a straightforward consent with a Schedule usually saves money. Our fees: notices £150 + VAT; notices plus Schedule £499 + VAT; Award £400 + VAT; full package £899 + VAT (£999 London).

Consent, conditions and what counts as a reply

A reply that says “I consent provided a Schedule of Condition is taken first” is generally treated in practice as consent with a Schedule, and the building owner arranges the Schedule. A reply that attaches other conditions (for example, about working hours or access) is usually best treated as a dissent, so that those terms can be properly settled in an Award; a building owner cannot simply accept conditions that go beyond the Act without risk. A reply that only asks questions is neither consent nor dissent, and the 14 days keep running. Where there are joint owners, each should sign. A consent from one joint owner, or from a tenant who is not an owner, does not bind the others.

Service problems that restart the clock

The 14 days only start once the notice has been validly served on the right person (s.15). If a notice went to the wrong address, missed a joint owner or a leaseholder, or was emailed to someone who had not agreed to email service, the period may not have started at all. Fixing it means re-serving correctly, and the notice period runs again from the new service. That is a common cause of delay, and the reason we check the Land Registry title before serving.

Responding to a dissent constructively

A dissent is not the end of good relations. Ask the neighbour what worries them; often it is noise, working hours, or a particular ceiling or feature they care about. The Award can deal with those points directly, and an Agreed Surveyor is usually the quickest route.

Keep a dated record of every notice, reply and request. If the timeline is ever questioned, that record is what shows the dispute arose properly and the surveyors had jurisdiction.

Sources and further reading

• Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 1: New building on line of junction (legislation.gov.uk)
• Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 5: Disputes arising under sections 3 and 4 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 6: Adjacent excavation and construction (legislation.gov.uk)
• Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 10: Resolution of disputes (legislation.gov.uk)
• Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 15: Service of notices etc. (legislation.gov.uk)
• GOV.UK: The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 explanatory booklet
• GOV.UK: Party walls and building work
• Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors (FPWS)

Section references are to the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 as it applies in England and Wales, checked against legislation.gov.uk. This guide is general professional guidance, not legal advice; every project should be assessed on its own drawings.

Sources: Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (legislation.gov.uk) · The Party Wall etc. Act 1996: explanatory booklet (GOV.UK) · Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors (FPWS). Last reviewed 27 October 2026. General guidance on the law in England and Wales, not legal advice.