The Party Wall etc Act 1996

Many extensions, conversions and alterations will involve work that is close to neighbouring properties or involves work to party walls.

The Party Wall etc Act 1996 covers procedures for formally dealing with these situations and provides a framework for preventing and resolving disputes.

If you intend to carry out building work which involves the following, you must serve the statutory notice on all those defined by the Act as adjoining owners:

• work on an existing wall shared with another property,
• building on the boundary with a neighbouring property,
• excavating near a neighbouring building,

The general principle of the Party Wall Act is that all work which might have an effect upon the structural strength or support function of the party wall or might cause damage to the neighbouring side of the wall must be notified. If in doubt, advice should be sought from a local Building Control Office or professional surveyor/architect.

Work covered by the Party Wall Act include:

• To demolish and/or rebuild a party wall.
• To increase the height or thickness of a party wall.
• Insertion of a damp proof coarse (either chemical injection or a physical dpc).
• Cutting into the party wall to take load bearing beams.
• Underpinning a party wall.
• Excavations within 3 metres of a neighbouring building where the excavation will go below the bottom of the foundations of the neighbouring building.
• Excavations within 6 metres of a neighbouring building where the excavation will go below a line drawn 45° downwards from the bottom of the foundations of the neighbouring building.

Some work is not covered such as putting up shelves and wall units, replastering and electrical rewiring.

Remember that reaching agreement with adjoining owners on a project that falls within the scope of the Act does not remove the possible need for planning permission or building regulations approval.

If the planned work to an existing structure falls under the Party Wall Act, a notice must be issued to all affected neighbouring parties which will include details of the owners undertaking the works, a description of the proposed work and the proposed start date for the work.

The process of serving a notice under the Party Wall Act is as follows:

• The person intending to carryout the work must serve a written notice on the owners of the adjoining property at least two months before the intended start of the work to every neighbouring party. In some circumastances such as a new boundary wall  or excavations, one months notice is required.
• Each neighbouring party should respond in writing giving consent or registering dissent - if a neighbouring party does nothing within 14 days of receiving the notice, the effect is to put the notice into dispute.
• No work may commence until all neighbouring parties have agreed in writing to the notice (or a revised notice).

What happens if a dispute arises?

If agreement cannot be reached between neighbouring parties, the process is as follows:

• A Surveyor or Surveyors is/are appointed to determine a fair and impartial Award. Sometimes more than one surevoyr is appointed.
• The Agreed Surveyor, or the individual Surveyors jointly, will produce an Award which must be fair and impartial to all parties.
• Once an Award has been made, all parties have 14 days to appeal to a County Court against the Award.

Once you have agreement, all work must comply with the notice. All the agreements should be retained to ensure that a record of the granted permission is kept; a subsequent purchaser of the property may wish to establish that the work was carried out in accordance with the Party Wall Act requirements.

Further Information

More information can be found in the Explanatory Booklet produced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.