The Party Wall Act
You must tell your neighbours if you want to carry out any building work near or on your shared property boundary, or ‘party wall’, in England and Wales.
The Party Wall etc Act 1996 provides a framework for preventing and resolving disputes in relation to party walls, boundary walls and excavations near neighbouring buildings. A building owner proposing to start work covered by the Act must give adjoining owners notice of their intentions.
We are here to help...
Whether you are intending to carry out work that may fall under the Act, or if your have received a Party Wall Notice from your neighbour then we can assist.
We appreciate that the Party Wall Act can sometimes be a difficult process to negotiate so we welcome you contacting us in the first instance for a free 30 minute consultation to discuss your exact requirements.
We have a flat fee of £65.00 + VAT for serving notice on each neighbour or adjoining owner.
Our services include preparing and submitting the necessary notices to adjoining owners and then following up notice and obtaining a response, this includes our time spent explaining the process to adjoining owners and answering their questions.
The act has two main purposes:
- It gives the owner rights to carry out building work to shared structures (most commonly called 'party walls') that would not normally be permitted under common law. These rights also extend to excavating near to neighbouring properties. In both cases, rights under the 1996 Act are permitted subject to giving appropriate notice to any neighbours.
- To protect any neighbour's property from damage resulting from the works. This is done primarily through the notice which gives you information about what work is to be done and what effect it might have on your property. Protection is also afforded through the right to appoint a surveyor to act on your behalf to protect your interests.
What happens next?
On receipt of a notice Adjoining Owners have two options and may either consent or dissent to the proposed works.
If Consent is given
If the neighbour gives their written consent then you are entitled to exercise the rights under the Act once the statutory notice period has expired. We recommend that you record the condition of the neighbouring property before works starts as a precautionary measure
Our services at this stage could include preparing, where required, a "Schedule of Condition" of the neighbouring property/ land affected by notifiable works.
This includes written schedule together with a photographic record.
- Our fee for the first adjoining owner would be circa £325 + VAT
- Our fee for subsequent owners would be circa £ 275.00 + VAT
In the event of a Dispute
Where the neighbour disagrees the Act provides a mechanism for resolving disputes. This means appointing surveyors or an agreed surveyor and the preparation of a Party Wall Award to authorise the works.
Our services at this stage include preparing a party wall award and agreeing detailed terms with the adjoining owner’s surveyor; at completion of the Project, review the schedule of condition and agree any remedial works with the adjoining owner’s surveyor.
As rough guide a typical award will take between 6-8 hours to complete but this can vary depending on the complexity of the works and the adjoining owner's surveyor (should one be appointed). This fee includes the service of notice and preparing a Schedule of Condition.
Our fee for agreeing an award is generally around £ 850 + VAT (depending on size of project)
Other Fees
It is important you are aware that you are also responsible for the fees of any Adjoining Owner’s surveyor. There is no obligation to quote for this but the rule is that his/her fee must be
“reasonable” and as guidance you should allow a further £800-£900 + VAT
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