If you’re planning an extension, loft conversion or new foundations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may require you to serve Party Wall Notices on your neighbours. Many owners are tempted to DIY this step to “save time and money.” In practice, home-made notices are one of the quickest ways to delay a project, sour neighbour relations, and increase costs—because small errors can make a notice invalid.
Below, we explain the most common pitfalls we see with self-served notices, why they matter, and how a low-cost, professionally prepared notice from Simple Survey avoids them while giving Adjoining Owners a clear point of contact to discuss concerns early.
The hidden risk with DIY notices: invalidity
The Act is deceptively short, but its procedural rules are strict. A notice that misses a required detail—or goes to the wrong person—can be treated as if it was never served. That means your statutory clock hasn’t started, and your builder’s programme can slip by weeks or months.
Here are the mistakes we most often encounter:
Serving the wrong people (or not all of them).
In flats and converted houses, there are often multiple “owners” under the Act: freeholder, head-lessee, long leaseholder, sometimes a management company. Serving only the immediate neighbour or tenant isn’t enough. In terraces, owners sometimes forget the rear or side neighbour affected by excavations.
Using the wrong type of notice.
Each workstream maps to a section of the Act. Owners commonly mix up:
- Section 1 (new walls at/astride the boundary),
- Section 2 (works to party walls/structures), and
- Section 6 (adjacent excavation).
Using the wrong section—or rolling them into a single blanket letter—can invalidate the service.
Missing mandatory particulars.
Notices must clearly describe the nature and particulars of the works and the intended start date. For Section 6 excavations, plans and sections showing depth and position are mandatory, and you must say whether you intend to strengthen or safeguard the neighbour’s foundations. Omitting these details is a common DIY error.
Getting the timings wrong.
- Section 2 requires 2 months’ notice;
- Sections 1 and 6 require 1 month.
We regularly see owners quoting the wrong period or starting works before the notice period elapses. On the other side, serving too early can also backfire because notices expire after 12 months.
Service method mistakes.
Email is only valid if the recipient has agreed in writing to receive notices electronically. Popping a letter through the door without addressing it correctly, or serving a tenant rather than an owner, can render service ineffective.
Poor or vague descriptions of work.
“Loft conversion” or “rear extension” is not enough. The notice should state, in plain terms, what is happening to the party structure (e.g., “cutting pockets for two steel beams into the party wall,” “raising the party fence wall by 225mm,” “excavating strip foundations to 1.1m within 3m of No. 24”). Vague notices often trigger default dissents.
Special foundations and boundary assumptions.
Referencing special foundations without consent, or assuming the legal boundary runs down the wall’s centre when it does not, can cause disputes that halt progress.
No contact route for questions.
DIY notices that offer no named surveyor or phone/email point of contact tend to worry Adjoining Owners, increasing the chance of dissent and extra cost.
Why invalidity hurts your programme and your budget
An invalid notice means there is no valid consent or dissent, no lawful right of access, and no protection under the Act’s procedures. Adjoining Owners (or their solicitors) can demand the process restarts or seek an injunction if works have begun. Your contractor may need to stand down, variations get priced, and goodwill evaporates. What began as a £0 “saving” often becomes the most expensive piece of paperwork on the job.
A better way: low-cost, compliant notices prepared by Simple Survey
We prepare and serve fully compliant Party Wall Notices for a low, fixed fee of £25.00 What you get:
- Correct notice types matched to your drawings and method (Sections 1, 2, and/or 6 as required).
- Legally robust particulars (and the right plans/sections for excavations).
- Accurate addressee lists so every relevant owner is notified (freeholder, leaseholders, management company, where applicable).
- Valid service via approved methods, with proof retained.
- Clear timelines so you know exactly when you can lawfully start.
- A named surveyor contact in every notice, giving Adjoining Owners a friendly, neutral point of call to ask questions before they feel the need to dissent.
That last point matters. When neighbours can speak to a professional straight away, most anxieties are answered quickly, and unnecessary dissents drop—saving you time and money.
“But I already downloaded a template…”
Templates are fine as checklists, but they can’t:
- Tell you who all the legal owners are;
- Decide which sections of the Act your design engages;
- Generate the required excavation drawings;
- Ensure service is valid; or
- Field your neighbour’s questions with impartial, expert answers.
One missed owner, one wrong section, or one missing plan is all it takes to put you back to square one.
Give your project the right start
The Party Wall process is meant to enable development—not block it—but only when the front-end paperwork is right. DIY service looks easy, yet the margin for error is small and the consequences of invalidity are big.
Simple Survey makes this simple: quick, compliant notices at a low fixed cost, with a real surveyor your neighbours can contact. That’s how you keep relationships warm, timelines intact, and builders building.
Have a project coming up—or a notice you’re unsure about?
Email team@simplesurvey.co.uk with your address and drawings. We’ll review what’s needed and, if you’d like, serve the notices on your behalf—properly, first time.
Simple Survey — the cost-effective way to start your works on the right foot, anywhere in England & Wales.