Frequently Asked Questions

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is a piece of legislation that applies in England and Wales. It provides a framework for preventing and resolving disputes in relation to party walls, party structures, boundary walls, and excavations near neighbouring buildings.

A building owner is the person carrying out the building works. If you are planning an extension, loft conversion, or excavation, this is you. An adjoining owner is any owner or occupier of a property affected by the proposed works. In most cases this means your neighbour sharing the party wall, though it can also include neighbours sharing a boundary or within the excavation zone.

You need to serve party wall notices if you're planning to carry out notifiable works. If your neighbour consents in writing, no surveyor is needed. If they dissent or don't respond, a surveyor (or surveyors) must be appointed.

Works that typically require a notice include: building on or at the boundary, cutting into a party wall, underpinning or raising a party wall, excavating within 3–6 metres of a neighbouring foundation, and new walls at the boundary.

No, and this is the single most common misunderstanding we see. A neighbour who does not consent is not refusing you permission, because permission was never theirs to give. Not consenting simply means they have the right to have a surveyor appointed to look after their interests. A Party Wall Award is then drawn up setting out how and when the works proceed, and the works go ahead. Your neighbour cannot veto your project under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. The Act exists to let building work happen while protecting both properties, not to give anyone a right of refusal. The only practical difference between consent and dissent is cost and a short delay, not whether you can build.

Within 24 hours of your instruction form being complete, by recorded delivery. The clock runs from the completed form rather than from payment, because we cannot draft or serve anything until we have your details and the neighbouring owners' details. Subject to all required information being provided at the time of instruction: we cannot draft a notice without the adjoining owners' details, so anything still outstanding pauses the clock until we have it.

Section 1 (new wall on boundary): 1 month. Section 2 (works to party wall): 2 months. Section 6 (excavation): 1 month. These are minimum statutory periods; the earlier you start, the better.

If your neighbour doesn't respond within 14 days of receiving the notice, a dispute is deemed to have arisen. Surveyors must then be appointed and a Party Wall Award produced.

An Agreed Surveyor is a single surveyor appointed by both the building owner and the adjoining owner to act impartially for both parties. This is the most efficient and cost-effective outcome.

We handle all documentation, correspondence, and legal formalities digitally. A trained inspector attends your neighbour's property to carry out the Schedule of Condition survey. The qualified RICS or FPWS surveyor reviews all submissions, prepares the Award, and signs off everything.

Yes. The Party Wall Act does not require a surveyor to personally attend the site for every stage of the process. What matters is that the Award is prepared and signed by a qualified individual. Our process is fully RICS-compliant.

Faster than most people expect. We serve your notices within 24 hours of your instruction form being complete. Your neighbours then have the statutory 14 days to reply. If someone dissents and accepts us as the single agreed surveyor, we usually have the Award agreed and served within a fortnight, sometimes in a week. If they appoint their own surveyor instead, allow two to three weeks, because two surveyors have to agree the wording between them. In practice that is around three to four weeks from instruction to Award on the usual route, and four to six weeks where your neighbour appoints their own. A neighbour who ignores the notice adds about a fortnight and no more: silence counts as a dissent after 14 days, and the Act then allows 10 days for them to appoint a surveyor before one is appointed for them. Separately, remember the Act's minimum notice period before works can start (two months for section 2, one month for sections 1 and 6). That runs alongside everything above, so the earlier you instruct, the less it costs you in waiting.

Yes, to your Award. The figure in your quote is what you pay for your party wall matter, up to and including your Award. It does not go up because the case took longer than we expected, because your neighbour was difficult, or because we spent more hours on it than we planned. That risk is ours and we price it in. Most people pay £25 a neighbour and nothing else, because most neighbours consent, and when they do the matter is closed with no further fee. We are not going to pretend nothing can ever cost more, so here is the whole list: a Schedule of Condition if one is needed (£395 for the first property, £195 for each additional property recorded on the same visit), rare escalations before the Award such as a Third Surveyor referral or a court appeal, and anything after your Award is served, such as damage claims or variations. Those are charged at £250 an hour for an MRICS surveyor and £175 an hour for supporting staff. We publish those rates so you can check them against anyone else's, and we email you what the work is and what it will cost before it starts, every time.

The building owner pays. You start with just £25 per neighbour to have your notice served. If your neighbour consents, that is the end of it and there is nothing more to pay. If they dissent, you pay one fixed total: £895 for the first dissenting neighbour on the Agreed Surveyor route (one surveyor acting impartially for both sides), plus £545 for each additional. If your neighbour appoints their own surveyor instead, our fee is £695 and you also pay their surveyor's fee (typically £700–£1,200). That is why the Agreed Surveyor route usually costs less overall.

No. Every cost is disclosed upfront. It is £25 per neighbour to serve your notice, and if your neighbour consents that is the end of it, with nothing more to pay. If they dissent, you pay one fixed total (£895 with an Agreed Surveyor, or £695 plus their own surveyor's fee if they appoint their own), and your £25 notice fee is already included in it. A Schedule of Condition, where one is needed, is a separate service at £395 for the first property and £195 for each additional property recorded on the same visit. Retrospective works (already started) add £295. Neighbour liaison, where we spend time talking a hesitant neighbour through the notice so they feel comfortable consenting, is an optional extra you choose after instructing us, at a price shown before you add it. We never charge for it unless you ask us to. The fixed fee covers everything up to and including your Party Wall Award. Once the Award is served, anything that comes up during the works (damage claims, disputes between the parties, variations to the Award) is billed separately at our published hourly rates, always agreed with you in writing before we start. Rare pre-Award exceptions, such as a Third Surveyor referral or a court appeal, are set out in the standard scope clause of our Terms of Business.

That's their right under the Act. In that case our fee is £695 for the first dissenting neighbour, and you also pay your neighbour's own surveyor's fee (typically £700–£1,200), which we scrutinise and negotiate before it is agreed. Because of that second fee, the Agreed Surveyor route (£895, one surveyor for both sides) usually works out cheaper overall, which is why we always aim for it.

If your neighbour does not respond within 14 days of receiving the notice, the Act treats this as a dispute having arisen, even without a formal objection. Silence does not count as consent. At that point, surveyors must be appointed and a Party Wall Award prepared before work can legally begin. We manage this transition automatically; you don't need to chase your neighbour or take any separate action.

If your neighbour formally objects to the notice, that is called a dissent. It does not mean the works cannot go ahead; it activates the formal surveying process. Both parties must then either jointly appoint a single Agreed Surveyor, or each appoint their own. The appointed surveyor or surveyors will produce a Party Wall Award that defines the terms under which the works can legally proceed. A dissent is not unusual and is not something to worry about.

An Agreed Surveyor is a single surveyor jointly appointed by both the Building Owner and the Adjoining Owner. Rather than acting for one side, they act impartially in the interests of both parties and produce a single Award. This is the most efficient outcome: faster, cheaper, and without the dynamic of two opposing surveyors negotiating over terms. At Party Wall Online, we always aim for an Agreed Surveyor appointment and approach your neighbours directly to explain the benefits.

When both parties appoint their own separate surveyors rather than a shared Agreed Surveyor, those two surveyors are required by the Act to jointly select a Third Surveyor at the start of the process. The Third Surveyor acts as a referee; they only become involved if the two appointed surveyors cannot agree on something, or if either party wishes to challenge a decision. In the majority of cases, the Third Surveyor is named but never called upon.

Not freely. Once appointed, a party wall surveyor's duty is to the Award and the Act, not exclusively to the person who appointed them. This independence is what makes the process fair to both sides. A surveyor can only be replaced in specific circumstances set out in the Act, such as if they become incapable of acting. Simply being unhappy with their position is not sufficient grounds for removal.

A Party Wall Award is a legally binding document signed by the appointed surveyor or surveyors. It can specify: which works are permitted and how they are to be carried out; the permitted working hours; any protective measures to safeguard the adjoining property; the Schedule of Condition taken before works begin; and provisions for access. It can also address costs. It cannot grant rights beyond what the Act allows, override planning permission, or deal with matters unrelated to the notifiable works.

This is more common than you'd think. You'll need to stop works immediately, serve retrospective notices, and appoint surveyors to regularise the situation. Our retrospective service handles this. Start with the £25-per-neighbour notice fee. If a dispute arises, retrospective works add £295 to whichever total applies.

There is no criminal offence for failing to serve a party wall notice, but your neighbour can seek an injunction to stop the works, and you may be liable for any damage caused. Acting quickly to regularise the situation is strongly advised.

It is a separate piece of legislation from the Party Wall Act that lets a property owner apply to the county court for an Access Order when they need to enter a neighbour's land to carry out preservation works to their own property. It only applies where the Party Wall Act does not already grant a right of access.

The Party Wall Act covers works to shared walls, boundary walls, and excavations near a neighbour's building, and it grants automatic access under Section 8. The Access to Neighbouring Land Act is used for ordinary maintenance where no Party Wall Act right applies, such as repainting a flank wall on the boundary, clearing a gutter, or replacing a drainage pipe.

Maintenance, repair or renewal of a building or structure; clearance, repair or renewal of drains, sewers, pipes or cables; treatment, cutting back, felling, removal or replacement of dead, diseased or unsafe hedges, trees, shrubs or plants; and filling in or clearance of a ditch. The common thread is preservation (keeping the property in its existing condition), not improvement or new construction.

No. The Access to Neighbouring Land Act only covers preservation of an existing property. It does not give you a right of access for new construction, extensions, loft conversions or improvement works. Where works are notifiable under the Party Wall Act, use the access rights in that Act instead.

Start by making a written request setting out the works, the duration, the precautions you will take, and any reinstatement or insurance you are offering. If the neighbour still refuses, you can apply to the county court for an Access Order under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992. The court will normally grant the Order unless access would cause the neighbour unreasonable interference or hardship.

Possibly. The court can require the applicant to pay compensation for any loss, damage or injury caused by the works. Where the applicant's property is not residential, the court can also order a separate 'consideration' payment for the privilege of entry. For residential applicants, only compensation is available, not consideration.

The Order specifies a defined period, tailored to the works. It is not a permanent right of access. The Order can be registered as a land charge so it binds any successors in title for its duration, but once the period ends, the right to enter ends with it.