If you are carrying out work to your home, which includes work on an existing wall, ceiling or floor structure shared with another property, building on or at the boundary or excavating near a neighbouring building or structure, your proposed work may fall within the scope of the Party Wall, etc. Act 1996. If it does, you must serve the statutory notice on all those defined in the Act as ‘Adjoining Owners’.
The Act is designed to enable owners to carry out works while protecting adjoining owners’ rights and, avoiding unnecessary inconvenience, and to avoid or minimise serious disputes by making sure property owners notify their neighbours in advance of certain proposed works.
The Act is an alternative dispute resolution process, keeping disputes out of court and future potential costs down.
Did you know?
- Party wall legislation applies only to England and Wales and does not exist in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- The Act requires property owners to follow a specific procedure when undertaking building work that involves either a party wall or a party fence wall (a garden wall which straddles the boundary), certain excavations and foundation constructions close to neighbouring buildings, and new walls at boundaries.
- Work might include inserting a beam when removing a wall, removing part of a chimney breast, extensions, alterations, building a new house, garden walls, basements, making an existing wall higher, e.g., for a loft conversion or building a parapet, underpinning a party wall, making structural repairs to a party wall, building a new party wall that complies with building regulations, demolishing and rebuilding a party wall, or cutting into a boundary wall to insert a flashing.
- This includes apartments or flats where work is carried out to the ceiling or floor.
- You’ll need to establish exactly where your boundary is. You may find details of boundary lines, walls and fences in the title deeds or the Land Registry documents relating to your house. If you have a mortgage, your lender will have these, but if you have an older property, you may need to seek legal advice to decide where boundaries lie. Always check these documents and get agreement on where the boundary lies before you start planning your new extension.
- If possible, talk to your neighbours in detail about the work you want to do before giving them written notice. If you can resolve any potential problems in advance, they may give you a written agreement in response to your notice. Before you start the specific works, you must either have your neighbour’s written agreement to the proposed works or appoint a surveyor to prepare a Party Wall Award in respect of them.
- You must give written notice to your neighbours of works described within the Act which may be accompanied by plans. This notice must be provided either one month or two months before starting work, depending on the nature of the work, or earlier if possible.
- Where there is more than one owner of the neighbouring property or more than one adjoining property, you must notify all of the various owners.
- The Adjoining Owner has certain options when they receive your notice. They may be quite agreeable to the works and therefore happy to consent to allow the works to continue or may be uncomfortable making such a decision and seek the advice of a suitably qualified surveyor who will advise them whether to consent to the proposed works or to withhold consent (often referred to as a dissent).
- If they do not consent in writing, you will be required to appoint a surveyor. You may agree to appoint the same surveyor as your neighbour, or you may choose your own surveyor. In general, a building owner will be required to pay the costs of an Adjoining Owner’s surveyor.
- A person is an Adjoining Owner if they are the freeholder of the affected property, the leaseholder of the affected property ( if the lease is for 12 months or longer) or the tenant of the affected property ( if the tenancy agreement is for 12 months or longer)
- It’s important to seek professional advice in circumstances where you believe the Act may apply. You need to contact a Party Wall Surveyor. Certain professional bodies and organisations such as the RICS, Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors and the Pyramus & Thisbe Society offer free guidance and can help you find the right surveyor.
- A surveyor appointed under the Act is under a duty to act impartially regardless of who appointed them. Therefore, selecting the same surveyor as the Adjoining Owner is often considered a neighbourly thing to do as this helps to reduce their costs.
- If there is a dispute, or written agreement to the proposed works is not given within 14 days of the notice, both parties should appoint an ‘agreed surveyor’ who should act impartially and draw up a document called an ‘Award’ which details the work to be carried out and when and how it will be done.
- It also usually records the condition of the relevant part of adjoining property before work begins, which can protect you if your neighbour claims your work has damaged their property. It also defines access provisions to neighbouring land, giving rights to carry out works to party structures and the ability to obtain contributions from neighbours who benefit from the works.
- The Award will determine who pays for the work if this is in dispute. Generally, the building owner who is undertaking the work pays for all expenses of work and reasonable costs, but these can be apportioned between the owners where appropriate, such as for works of repair.
- You must have an Award before you can start work under the Act unless the Adjoining Owner has given written agreement to the works.
- Be aware that trespass occurs if any part of the guttering, downpipes, or coping stones over sail onto the Adjoining Owner’s property.
- Always seek advice on this important legal requirement. If you don’t serve a notice as required under the Act, the adjoining owner may apply to the court to have an injunction served in order that you will stop work.
The NHIC wishes to thank Kellie Gillies BA(Hons) MFPWS MPTS, Party Wall Surveyor, Gillies Party Wall Surveyors, for her contribution to this guide.
Please note that this guidance document produced by the NHIC was correct at the time of printing. However, information and regulations may have changed since its publication. Therefore, it is always advisable to seek the most up-to-date information and expert advice before making any decisions related to solar panels. Copyright National Home Improvement Council 2024.
