If you are planning a loft conversion, extension, basement or structural work near a shared wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is likely to apply. If you have received a notice from a neighbour, the Act sets out your rights and how your property is protected.
Through Blakes you can instruct an experienced chartered building surveyor who handles party wall matters for building owners and adjoining owners across London and the South East. He is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors, with more than 10 years’ post-qualification experience.
The Act is not there to stop building work. It provides a fair framework so that necessary work can go ahead while the neighbouring property is protected, and so that disagreements are settled by surveyors rather than in court.
The Act sits alongside planning permission and Building Regulations, not in place of them. Having one does not remove the need for the others.
If you are carrying out notifiable work, you must serve written notice on each adjoining owner before you start. That includes freeholders and any leaseholders with a lease of more than a year, so a house converted into flats can mean several notices.
| Type of work | Section | Minimum notice |
|---|---|---|
| New wall on the boundary | Section 1 | One month |
| Work to a party wall or party structure | Section 2 | Two months |
| Excavation near a neighbouring structure | Section 6 | One month |
Your neighbours then have 14 days to respond. They can consent, or dissent and appoint a surveyor. If they do not respond, a dispute is deemed to have arisen and surveyors are appointed to settle it by way of a party wall award.
Serving notice early is the most useful thing you can do. Leave it until the builder is booked and the notice periods alone can push your start date back by two months.
If your neighbour has served you with a party wall notice, you have 14 days to choose one of three options:
A party wall surveyor’s duty is to the Act rather than to whoever appointed them. Having your own surveyor still means an experienced professional is checking the method of work, the safeguards and the schedule of condition on your behalf.
In the usual case the building owner pays the reasonable fees of the adjoining owner’s surveyor, because the work is being carried out for their benefit. For most adjoining owners, appointing a surveyor costs nothing. This is confirmed with you before any work starts.
If work has already started without notice, contact us straight away. The building owner has not complied with the Act and there are steps that can be taken to protect your property.
Guide fee
For a building owner’s surveyor or an adjoining owner’s surveyor. The final fee depends on the number of adjoining owners, the type of work and the complexity of the award, and is confirmed before you instruct.
If you are an adjoining owner, the building owner normally pays your surveyor’s reasonable fees, so in most cases you will not pay anything.
Complex schemes such as basements, new builds or projects with several adjoining owners may be quoted on an hourly basis. How the fee is made up is always explained before work begins.
Your address, the neighbouring addresses, drawings if you have them, and whether you are the building owner or the adjoining owner. Enquiries are normally answered within 24 to 48 hours.
You receive a fee quote and the surveyor’s terms of engagement. You instruct and contract with the surveyor directly, and he deals with your matter personally from start to finish.
For building owners, notices are prepared and served. For adjoining owners, the surveyor responds to the notice and makes contact with the building owner’s surveyor.
The neighbouring property is inspected and recorded with photographs before work starts, so there is a clear record if damage is alleged later.
The surveyors agree and serve the party wall award, setting out what work can be done, how and when. A straightforward award can often be agreed within a few weeks of appointment.
If damage is caused, it is dealt with under the award, usually following a further inspection when the works are complete.
Blakes has advised homeowners, leaseholders and freeholders across London since 2013. Party wall issues often arise alongside the matters we deal with every day, such as lease extensions, freehold purchases and building surveys, so we can see where one affects another.
Related services: RICS building surveys, licence to alter surveys for leasehold flats and specific defect reports.
Tell us the address, the type of works and whether you are the building owner or the adjoining owner. If you have drawings, send them by email with your enquiry. Call us on 020 7373 7373 or complete the form below and we will come back to you within 24 to 48 hours.
Specialist surveys are carried out by our associate chartered building surveyor. You instruct and contract with the surveyor directly, on his own terms of engagement.
Other specialist surveys: specific defect reports, damp and mould surveys, spray foam insulation surveys and licence to alter surveys.
Most loft conversions in terraced and semi-detached houses involve cutting steel beams or padstones into the party wall, which is notifiable under section 2 of the Act. Notice must be served at least two months before that work starts.
Fees start from £750 + VAT, depending on the number of adjoining owners and the complexity of the works. If you are an adjoining owner, the building owner normally pays your surveyor's reasonable fees.
If there is no response within 14 days, a dispute is deemed to have arisen. The building owner can then serve a 10 day request to appoint a surveyor, and if there is still no response, a surveyor can be appointed on the neighbour's behalf so that an award can be made.
Yes. Both owners can agree to one agreed surveyor who acts impartially for both. It is usually quicker and less expensive, although each owner is entitled to appoint their own surveyor.
Allow for the notice period, which is one or two months depending on the work, plus the time needed to agree the award. Straightforward awards are often agreed within a few weeks, while basements and complex schemes take longer.
The building owner is in breach of the Act. An adjoining owner may be able to seek an injunction to stop the work until the Act is followed. Contact us promptly so your position can be protected.
Yes. Floors and ceilings between flats are party structures, so works such as replacing floors, inserting beams or altering structural walls can be notifiable. Leaseholders may also need a licence to alter from the landlord.
A chartered building surveyor with more than 10 years' post-qualification experience and membership of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors. You contract with him directly, and Blakes makes the introduction and handles your initial enquiry.
