Time-critical · Your neighbour is in breach
They've started building. No notice.
Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 your neighbour must serve a Party Wall Notice on you beforebeginning notifiable works. If they haven't, they're in breach. You have remedies, and the sooner you act, the more options stay open.
Step 1 of 2
Where's your property?
Enter your postcode and we'll show you the surveyor on our team who will handle your case.
Pay £0. By law your neighbour covers our fees (s.10(13), Party Wall etc. Act 1996).
Why every day matters
The Schedule of Condition is the single most important document you can have. It records the state of your property before any works begin. Once excavation, demolition or hammering starts, the opportunity to capture that pristine baseline starts disappearing.
Engage us today and we can usually have a surveyor on the ground within 24 hours. Even where works have already started, we can record the present condition as a partial baseline, but every hour matters.
Your remedies under the law
Doing notifiable works without serving a Notice doesn't mean your neighbour gets a free pass. The Act and the general law give you several options.
Formal letter putting your neighbour on notice
Our first step on day one. We write to your neighbour explaining that you have engaged a surveyor, that they are required to serve a Party Wall Notice under the Act, and inviting them to do so before any further works are carried out. In a surprising number of cases, this is enough: works pause, the notice gets served, and the dispute resolution machinery starts working as it should.
Injunction to stop works
If your neighbour refuses to engage and the works are likely to damage your property, the High Court can grant an interim injunction halting the works until the Act is complied with. The leading case Roadrunner Properties Ltd v Dean confirmed that an Adjoining Owner can obtain an injunction without first having to wait for damage. We work with specialist solicitors and can be in court within days where the facts justify it.
Retrospective service of Notice
Where works have started but no serious damage has yet occurred, the cleanest outcome is usually a retrospective Party Wall Notice followed by a normal Award process. We negotiate the terms, including a Schedule of Condition based on the current state of your property, working-hours restrictions, and any compensation already due.
Compensation claim under s.7(2)
Section 7(2) of the Act gives you a statutory right to compensation for any loss or damage caused by the works. Whether the Notice was served or not, the right exists. We document the damage, calculate the loss, and pursue your neighbour's contractor's insurer through the Award mechanism, or, if needed, through the courts.
Common-law remedies: trespass and nuisance
Building works that cross your boundary without consent are trespass. Vibration, dust, noise and rubbish causing material interference with your use and enjoyment of your home can be a nuisance. Both attract damages and (where appropriate) an injunction. The Party Wall Act runs alongside these remedies, not instead of them.
What we'll do today
Sign the engagement documents online (they take five minutes) and we move.
Your appointed surveyor reads your engagement notes and reviews any photos / planning information you sent. They call you to introduce themselves and agree the priorities.
We send a formal letter to your neighbour putting them on notice that we are acting for you. The letter cites the relevant sections of the Act, requests immediate confirmation of their intentions, and reserves all your statutory and common-law rights.
We attend at your property to record a Schedule of Condition. Where works are already in progress we annotate the schedule with the date of inspection and photograph any visible damage that may have already occurred.
Depending on your neighbour's response: negotiation of a retrospective Award, instructing solicitors for injunctive relief, or progressing a compensation claim under s.7(2). You are kept fully informed at every stage.
You will not be asked to pay our fees
The same s.10(13) rule applies: your neighbour is liable for our reasonable fees. Where works proceed in breach of the Act, the general law gives us additional recovery routes. Under our Adjoining Owner Terms of Business we pursue recovery from your neighbour in our own name, and you will not be asked to pay our fees out of your own pocket.
Every day matters
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