Do you need to serve a party wall notice?
Answer a few quick questions about your project and check whether the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies. Free, in under two minutes.
Missed notices are a common, and avoidable, cause of neighbour disputes
We'll check your project against the three types of notifiable work under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (work to a shared wall, building on the boundary and excavating near a neighbouring building) and tell you which notice, if any, applies.
Please read before you start. This checks your project against the general rules in the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. It can't see your property, your neighbour's foundations or the specifics of your boundary, so treat the result as a starting point. For anything borderline, a party wall surveyor can confirm what applies before you go ahead.
What are you planning?
Is this wall shared with your neighbour's property?
A party wall sits on the boundary and forms part of both properties, not just a wall that happens to be close to your neighbour's.
Will any part of the new wall or its foundations sit on your neighbour's land, or astride the boundary line?
Measure to the nearest point of their building or a boundary wall, whichever is closer.
Will your new foundations go deeper than your neighbour's existing foundations?
If you don't know how deep theirs go, it's safer to assume they might be shallower than yours. This is one of the most common reasons notice gets missed.
The three types of notifiable work
Based on the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Always confirm anything borderline with a party wall surveyor before starting work.
VP / TOOLS / PW
Work to a shared party wall
Triggers a notice
- Cutting into a party wall, for example for a beam
- Raising or rebuilding a party wall
- Underpinning a party wall
- Demolishing and rebuilding a shared structure
Key details
- Two months' notice before work starts
- Your neighbour has 14 days to respond
- No response counts as a dispute
- A notice lapses if work hasn't started within 12 months
Building a new wall on the boundary
Triggers a notice
- Building a wall astride the boundary line
- Foundations projecting onto neighbouring land
Key details
- One month's notice before work starts
- Building wholly on your own land generally isn't notifiable
- Your neighbour has 14 days to respond
Excavating near a neighbouring building
Triggers a notice
- Within 3m of a neighbour's building and deeper than their foundations
- Within 6m, where a 45° line from the base of their foundations would be cut by your excavation
Key details
- One month's notice before work starts
- The most common domestic trigger is the 3m rule
- The notice must include plans and sections showing the depth and position of the excavation
If there's a dispute (including no response within 14 days), surveyors are appointed (either one agreed surveyor or one each) to produce a binding Party Wall Award setting out how the work must proceed. The building owner usually pays reasonable surveyor fees, including the neighbour's surveyor. Starting notifiable work without serving notice can lead to an injunction stopping the work, and to civil liability.
Factor party wall notices into your timeline early.
Notice periods of one to two months, plus a 14-day response window, need to sit inside your build schedule rather than surface halfway through. Book a free consultation and we'll help you plan around them from the start.
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