If your project touches a shared wall, boundary or nearby foundations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 likely applies. Here’s a clear, start-to-finish roadmap so you can build confidently, neighbourly and lawfully.
1) Check if your works are legally notifiable
You must serve Party Wall Notices if your works fall within the Act—typically:
- Section 2: Works to a party wall/party structure (e.g., loft steel into the wall, removing a chimney breast, DPC injections).
- Section 1: Building a new wall on or up to the boundary line.
- Section 6: Excavations within 3 m (or within 6 m subject to the 45° test) and deeper than your neighbour’s foundations.
If in doubt, ask us to review your drawings—fast and definitive.
2) Serve notice before works start
Notices are legal documents with statutory lead-times:
- 2 months for most Section 2 and Section 1 works (some Section 1 scenarios are 1 month).
- 1 month for Section 6 excavations.
Start early to avoid delays.
3) Notify all adjoining owners
“Owner” is wide under the Act: freeholder(s) and any leaseholder(s) with a term over one year—sometimes more than one party per property. Missing an owner risks invalid service and timetable slippage.
4) Know the three valid notice responses
Each Adjoining Owner can:
- Consent (in writing) – works proceed under the Act’s framework.
- Dissent & appoint an Agreed Surveyor – one impartial surveyor acts for both.
- Dissent & appoint their own Surveyor – two surveyors are appointed and, if needed, a Third Surveyor stands by.
No response in 14 days = deemed dissent. A 10-day follow-up is then issued to secure an appointment.
5) Budget: the Building Owner pays the reasonable PW costs
Under the Act, the Building Owner is ordinarily responsible for reasonable surveyor fees (including the Adjoining Owner’s surveyor where appointed) and for making good any proven damage caused by the notifiable works.
6) Skip notice and risk an injunction
Failing to serve valid notice leaves you exposed to injunctive relief (court-ordered stoppage), extra cost, and programme disruption. It’s simply not worth the risk—serve correctly, once.
Practical timeline (typical)
- Week 0–1 – Drawing check & notice drafting.
- Week 1 – Serve notices on all relevant owners (with required drawings for s.6).
- By Day 14 – Responses received (or deemed dissent).
- Weeks 3–8 – Surveyor appointments, Award agreed (if dissent).
- After Award/consent & lead-times – Works commence lawfully.
Simple Survey — clear, fixed pricing
- Party Wall Notice service: £25 per adjoining ownership
(multi-notice bundles discounted) - Act administration as Agreed Surveyor (single surveyor): typically £300 fixed-fee
(depends on complexity and number of notices/owners) - Two-surveyor route (we act for the Building Owner): fixed-fee proposals from £325 for our side
(we work to keep your neighbour’s surveyor’s hourly fees reasonable and contained)
Get your notices out—properly, first time
Email your drawings and site address. We’ll confirm which notices apply, who must be served, and the fastest compliant route to site.
Email: team@simplesurvey.co.uk
Serve correctly now, build smoothly later.