ÆANDREW EDWARD & CO.
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For adjoining owners

You've been served a party wall notice.
Here's what it actually means.

A party wall notice is not a demand, a threat, or something you have done wrong. It is your neighbour formally telling you they intend to carry out work that the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 covers. And it is the moment your own rights switch on.

You have 14 days from the date of service to respond. If you do not reply, the Act treats a dispute as having arisen automatically, and the building owner may then appoint a surveyor on your behalf.

Get free advice todayConsent or dissent?

If your 14 days are nearly up, call us. A dissent can be issued quickly and the detail sorted afterwards.

Your response

You have exactly three options.

Whatever the covering letter says, and whatever form was enclosed with it, these are the only three responses the Act recognises.

  1. Consent to the notice

    Fastest, and the most given away

    The matter ends there. No surveyors are appointed, no Award is drawn up, and no schedule of condition is taken unless you separately arrange one. Your neighbour can begin.

    Consenting is not reckless. For minor works it is often the sensible, neighbourly answer. But understand what goes with it: no dated record of your property, no controls on hours or method, no surveyor to turn to, and if damage appears you are proving causation from scratch. You cannot un-consent later.

  2. Dissent and appoint your own surveyor

    What we would usually advise

    Dissenting does not mean you object to the works and it is not a hostile act; it is simply the route that brings the Act's protections into play. Two surveyors are appointed, one by each owner, and together they agree an Award.

    You get a schedule of condition, an independent read of the structural design, controls on working hours and access, and a binding obligation to make good any damage. The building owner normally pays for all of it.

  3. Dissent and agree to a single surveyor

    Sometimes right, sometimes not

    Both owners use one "agreed surveyor". You still get an Award and a schedule of condition, and it is quicker and cheaper for your neighbour.

    Two things to weigh. The agreed surveyor was almost always found and proposed by the building owner. And once made, the appointment cannot be rescinded. If you lose confidence part way through, you are stuck with it. For simple works, fine. For excavation or basements, we would think hard.

Doing nothing is not a fourth option. It is a forfeit.

Silence is treated as dissent, so you end up in the surveyor process anyway. The only difference is that you have given up the right to choose who represents you. Under section 10(4) the building owner may then appoint your surveyor for you.
Not sure which applies to you? Ask us. FreeRead your rights as an adjoining owner
Before you respond

Check the notice is actually valid.

A surprising number are not. A defective notice starts no clock, confers no rights, and has to be served again properly.

This matters practically as well as technically: if the notice is invalid and your neighbour starts work in reliance on it, they are carrying out notifiable work without a valid notice. Which is a very different legal position for both of you.

Send us a photograph of the notice and we will tell you whether it stands up. There is no charge for that and no obligation attached to it.

What a valid notice must get right

  • Every owner named and served. If your home is jointly owned, each owner must be served. Serving one of two joint owners is one of the most common defects we see. Leaseholders with more than a year to run, and freeholders, can both be adjoining owners.
  • The works described accurately. Vague wording such as "alterations to the rear" is not enough for you to understand what is proposed, which is the entire purpose of a notice.
  • The correct sections cited. Section 1 for building on the line of junction, section 2 for works to a party structure, section 6 for excavation nearby. Many notices cover section 2 and quietly omit a section 6 excavation that also applies.
  • The right notice period. Two months for section 2 works, one month for section 1 and section 6. The period runs from service, and works cannot lawfully begin before it expires.
  • Named building owner and date. The notice must identify who is serving it and when. A builder or architect cannot serve in their own name, it is the owner's notice.
  • Section 6 drawings. Where excavation is notified, the notice must be accompanied by plans and sections showing the depth and position of the proposed excavation. Without them it is incomplete.
If you appoint us

What actually happens, in order.

No jargon, no surprises, and nothing for you to pay at any stage in the ordinary case.

  1. A ten minute call

    Free, no obligation
    You tell us what you have received and what is happening next door. We tell you whether the Act applies, whether the notice is valid, and whether you actually need a surveyor. Sometimes the answer is that you do not, and we will say so.

  2. We issue your dissent and appointment

    Same day if needed
    A short written response naming us as your appointed surveyor. That stops the 14-day clock becoming a problem and takes the decision out of your neighbour's hands.

  3. We inspect your property

    Typically within a week
    A full photographic and written schedule of condition, inside and out, covering everything the works could realistically affect. This is the document that decides any later argument about damage, so it is done thoroughly.

  4. We review the design

    The part that matters most
    Drawings, structural calculations, method statements, temporary works and sequencing. We are reading them with your building in mind. Its age, its construction and its foundations, not a generic case.

  5. The Award is agreed and served

    Usually 2 to 4 weeks
    Both surveyors agree a binding Award covering scope, working hours, access, protection measures, the schedule of condition and the duty to make good. Your neighbour cannot lawfully start the notifiable works until it is served on both owners.

  6. We stay on the matter

    Through to completion
    If something changes on site, if damage appears, or if the works stray outside what the Award permits, you have a named surveyor already holding the file. Not a new instruction to set up under pressure.

Questions we get in the first phone call

Do I have to sign anything?

You have to respond, but you do not have to sign the form your neighbour's surveyor enclosed. Many notices arrive with a pre-printed reply that makes consenting the easiest box to tick and buries the alternative. A written response by email is perfectly valid: state that you dissent, and either name your appointed surveyor or say you will do so shortly. Never sign a consent you do not understand because it looked like the polite option.

What happens if I just ignore it?

After 14 days the Act deems a dispute to have arisen. Surveyors must then be appointed. If you still do not appoint one, section 10(4) lets the building owner appoint a surveyor to act on your behalf. Someone you did not choose, selected by the person doing the building. The process continues without you either way. Ignoring a notice does not stop the works; it just removes you from the decisions.

The notice looks wrong. Does that matter?

Very much. A notice must correctly name every owner of the adjoining property, describe the proposed works accurately, cite the right sections, give the correct notice period, and be dated and served properly. Get any of that materially wrong and the notice is invalid. It starts no clock and confers no rights, and your neighbour must serve again. We see defective notices regularly, particularly where a property is jointly owned and only one owner was served, or where a Section 6 excavation has been left out entirely.

My neighbour says they already have planning permission.

Planning permission and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 are entirely separate regimes and neither substitutes for the other. Planning is about land use and appearance, and is granted by the council. The Act is about structural rights between two private owners. Permitted development works still need party wall notices. A grant of planning permission tells you nothing at all about whether your neighbour has complied with the Act.

Can I stop the work?

Generally no, and it is better to know that at the outset. The Act gives your neighbour rights to carry out certain works; what it gives you is the right to have those works controlled by an Award. Defined scope, defined hours, your property recorded beforehand, access regulated, and a duty to make good any damage. Where you can stop work is if it is notifiable and no valid notice was served, or if it goes beyond what the Award permits.

How much will this cost me?

Almost certainly nothing. Section 11 places the cost of the works and the reasonable fees of both surveyors on the building owner, because the works benefit them. We agree our fees with the building owner's surveyor and they are recorded in the Award. In the ordinary adjoining owner case you are not asked for money at any point, and we will tell you at the outset if we think yours is one of the narrow exceptions.

How quickly do I need to decide?

Sooner than the 14 days suggests, because appointing a surveyor takes a conversation and the clock runs from service, not from when you got round to opening the envelope. If you have a week left, ring us. If you have two days left, ring us today. A dissent can be issued quickly and we can sort out the detail afterwards.

Send us the notice. We'll tell you where you stand.

Photograph it and email it over, or read it to us on the phone. Ten minutes will tell you whether it is valid, what your deadline really is, and whether you need a surveyor at all.

  • The building owner normally pays your surveyor's reasonable fees
  • A named surveyor on your case from start to finish
  • We will tell you honestly if you do not need us
Appoint us as your surveyorTalk to us first, freeor call 01174420259

No card details. No obligation. Nothing is final until you sign the appointment. A member of our office team reads every message, and a surveyor replies, usually within one working day.

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