Party Wall Matters
Notices, schedules of condition and awards under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, for owners planning works and for the neighbours those works affect.
Overview
Planning a loft conversion, an extension, a basement or new foundations close to a neighbour? If the work touches a party wall or boundary, or digs near a neighbour’s foundations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is likely to apply.
If you have been served a notice, the Act gives you rights that need to be secured before the work starts.
Why it matters
Notifiable work started without the right notices can be stopped by injunction, and damage that was never recorded is hard to prove afterwards. A correctly served notice, an agreed schedule of condition and a clear award protect both owners and let the building work go ahead on programme.
Acting for Building Owners
The right notices served on every adjoining owner, surveyors appointed and the award agreed, so the work can start when planned.
Acting for Adjoining Owners
Your property recorded before work starts, the proposals checked, and the protections you need written into the award.
Agreed Surveyor
Where both owners agree, one surveyor acting impartially for both, which keeps the process quicker and the fees lower.
What you receive
- Advice on whether the Act applies and which notices the work needs.
- Notices served correctly on every adjoining owner, with the plans and details the Act requires.
- A dated schedule of condition of the neighbouring property, with photographs, agreed before work starts.
- A party wall award setting out the permitted works, methods, working hours and protections.
- Inspections if concerns arise during the work, and a check against the schedule of condition when it is finished.
Who it is for
Homeowners and developers planning work next to a neighbour, owners who have been served a notice, and the managing agents and freeholders of blocks with work going on next door, across London, the South East and the East of England.
Whoever appoints us, a party wall surveyor acts impartially under the Act. That impartiality is what makes an award stand.
The RICS standard
Party wall legislation and procedure
RICS professional standard, 7th edition, effective as a guidance note from 1 December 2019 and reissued as a professional standard in May 2023
Appointment: the party wall section of the RICS Neighbourly Matters Services schedule.
This is the standard RICS members follow when acting under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. It explains when the Act applies, how notices are served, how surveyors are appointed and awards made, and the professional conduct expected of the surveyor.
The government’s Party Wall etc. Act 1996 guidance sets out the same process in plain English for owners.
“a statutory appointment that is personal to the surveyor”
RICS, Party wall legislation and procedure
Key terms
- Line of junction notice
- Under section 1, for a new wall on or at the boundary. At least one month’s notice.
- Party structure notice
- Under section 2, for work to an existing party wall, such as cutting in a beam or raising the wall. At least two months’ notice.
- Adjacent excavation notice
- Under section 6, for digging within three metres of a neighbouring building and below its foundations, or within six metres in some cases. At least one month’s notice.
- Party wall award
- The document the surveyors make under section 10, setting out what work may be done, how and when, and recording the condition of the neighbouring property.
- Agreed surveyor
- A single surveyor appointed jointly by both owners, acting impartially for both.
- Third surveyor
- Selected at the outset by the two owners’ surveyors, and called on only if they cannot agree.
How this maps to your RICS appointment
Party wall work is appointed under the party wall section of the RICS Neighbourly Matters Services schedule. The headings below follow that schedule, so the services you see here are the services you tick in your appointment.
Pre-notice advice
A site inspection, the adjoining owners identified from title, and the design and method statements reviewed before notices go out.
Acting for the building owner
Notices served, schedules of condition prepared, a third surveyor selected, and the award negotiated, adjusted during the work if needed and reviewed at completion.
Acting for an adjoining owner
The award examined and negotiated, the schedule of condition agreed, and the work monitored on your behalf.
Schedules of condition
The areas at risk recorded before the work, then inspected afterwards with any damage and repairs recorded.
Case studies
2 awards
Two neighbours, two awards
Works to a London house affecting the adjoining owners on both sides, with a schedule of condition and a published award for each.
66 matters
Party wall work on file
Instructions for building owners and adjoining owners across London and Essex, held in the practice archive since 2000.
Avalon Surveyors Ltd is regulated by RICS and has been in continuous practice since 2000. Our party wall work is carried out to the RICS professional standard Party wall legislation and procedure.
Discuss a party wall matter
Tell us about the property, the work planned or the notice you have received, and we will come back to you within two business days.