In England and Wales property owners must inform their neighbours whenever they carry out building work near or on shared property boundary. Friction and disputes can emerge even between the friendliest of neighbours when it comes to construction works involving a party structure.
The Party Wall Act was developed to assist in preventing such disputes between neighbours and it allows surveyors (called party wall surveyors) to help property owners to mediate these disputes without resorting to civil litigation, which often proves unnecessary, costly and stressing to those involved.
Party wall surveyors help owners obtain a written Party Wall Agreement (also called Party Wall Award) from their neighbours (also called adjoining owners), which sets out the rights and responsibilities of the homeowners initiating the building works, as well as the rights and responsibilities of the neighbours (the legal property owners, not tenants). This helps all stakeholders adequate legal protections before, during and after the building works.
Frequently Asked Questions
We strive to put as much information about party wall surveying as possible on this page, but most situations are unique and we can’t cover everything. Please feel free to drop us a message if you can’t find an aswer to your question.
What is a party wall structure?
By party wall structure we understand any type of structure that separates two or more buildings with different owners. This party wall may be part of a single building or two or more separate buildings. A party fence wall, such as a garden wall (but not a wooden fence), also falls under the Party Wall Act.
Does the Party Wall Act applies to building home extensions?
It depends on a number of factors, such as whether a homeowner has neighbours (most flats involve neighbours), where those neighbours are in rapport with this new structural alteration, and other details. A general rule should be that if close neighbours exist, their consent should be obtained before work can start.
This could be a floor or other structure that separates buildings or parts of buildings with different owners, eg flats.
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