Party Wall Agreements – avoid headaches with our fast expert service
PWAs require experience and knowledge to ensure a safe build. Daunting as they seem, our experts can save you a huge amount of stress, and can even keep your neighbours on side.
What is a Party Wall Agreement?
If you’re planning on doing any building work that affects your neighbour’s house or land, then you’ll need a Party Wall Agreement from qualified professional surveyors to make sure this work is safe and legal.
Party Wall Surveyors most frequently draw up Agreements for these kinds of projects:
- Excavating foundations for a new extension within 3m of a neighbouring or shared structure
- Removing chimney breasts that are attached to a party wall
- Underpinning a party wall to create a basement extension
- Cutting beams in to a shared party wall as part of a loft conversion
Find the answers with our Party Wall FAQs
A party wall agreement refers to a document that sets out the conditions for any work affecting Party Walls.
Party walls are structures that stand on the land of 2 or more owners and can either be part of a building – like in a side-return extension – or a boundary wall to separate your gardens, and also cover the floors between flats and maisonettes.
Party Wall Agreements also cover the effect of any excavations within 3 to 6 metres of the boundary between houses considered likely to have an impact (based on depth).
Within the agreement, you can find conditions such as:
- The addresses of the Building Owner and the Adjoining Owner(s);
- Drawings and details of the proposed works;
- A schedule of condition of the adjacent property, possibly with photos;
- Details of the contractor’s public liability insurance;
- Surveyors’ details and access arrangements for them (if needed);
- Neighbour’s surveyor’s fee (if needed)
- Indemnities by the building owner in favour of the adjoining owner (if due);
- The party wall award: guidelines governing how the works should progress;
- Working hours;
- Time limit to start work (usually one year).
A party wall surveyor’s duty is to settle the dispute, and acts as an impartial expert, and is appointed in writing, rather that employed.
The most sensible option is for both the Building and Adjoining Owner to appoint a single expert, called an ‘Agreed Surveyor’. This legal agreement means that both Owners must abide by the Agreed Surveyor’s award.
If each Owner appoints separate surveyors – which they must do within 10 days of being requested to do so, or risk a surveyor being assigned to them by the other party – then these surveyors must appoint a Third Surveyor, who acts as an assistant and referee to resolve disputes between the two original surveyors.
The Owners are allowed to contact the Third Surveyor to discuss matters in relation to the dispute.
If you are planning on carrying out construction work in England and Wales on any of the shared boundaries mentioned above, you will likely to give your neighbours a Party Wall Notice.
Remember – party wall notices, agreements and awards are quite different from planning permission or building regulations approval, but are an essential part of the building process.
As a rule of thumb, the earlier the better – as this helps you keep your neighbours informed and on side.
Party wall notices have to be served to anyone with a freehold or leasehold stake in the properties affected – so this many involve multiple notices being issued to your neighbours and other people of interest.
Remember that nobody likes being served legal documentation, so discuss your plans with your neighbours early (party wall notices need to be served two months before work starts).
As you might expect, it’s a good idea to be fluent in what work is taking place, or ask your architect to explain it to your neighbours – that way you should be able to reassure them and deal with any issues or disputes that may arise.
Offering your neighbour a prior Schedule of Condition of their property is a wise idea – it’s a record of the state of the building prior to work starting, and gives both sides a reference point should things go awry.
Depending on the work you are doing, it is your responsibility as the building owner to serve one of these Party Wall Notices – or you could use a surveyor appointed to act on your behalf:
- A Party Structure Notice, involving work to an existing Party Wall or Party Structure.
- A Line of Junction Notice 1: involving the construction of a new wall on the boundary line i.e. a shared wall.
- A Line of Junction Notice 2: this is a new wall entirely on the building owner’s land, adjacent to the boundary line i.e. belonging solely to the building owner.
- Excavation works notice (either 3 or 6 metres): this affects excavation works to build new foundations for a wall or basement.
In our experience, we’ve seen that you might need multiple notices for the same project, depending on the extent, location and complexity of the work.
At Lapworth Architects, we offer relevant services to help with Party Wall Notices and Awards:
- Serving notice: £120
- Preparing a schedule of condition: from £350
- Preparing an Award: from £500
All prices are exclusive of VAT at the current rate.
Your neighbour has 14 days to respond and give their consent to the notice, or request a party wall settlement. If they agree to the works in writing, you won’t need a party wall agreement and this can save on fees.
If you have a good relationship with your neighbours and keep them in the loop with your plans, then you can agree matters between yourselves with a conditional consent, which is effectively written permission to go ahead with your work.
For example, under conditional consent, they might request works be done between specific times or that the new party wall facing them be a specific colour or finish. Again, keeping them on side is a wise move, and if they do consent to the work, you can start work right away.
If your neighbours initially seem happy with your plans, chase them up to sign the consent if they haven’t done so after a week. Remember, if they don’t sign within 14 days, you are formally ‘in dispute’ – and that’s a pain in the neck, as you’ll need a full party wall agreement to continue.
If your neighbours don’t agree (or fail to consent), you are formally in dispute, and only appointed surveyors can produce party wall awards (the document that resolves disputes if your neighbour doesn’t agree to the work).
Under the Party Wall Act, the procedure for dispute resolution applies in two situations:
- Prior to work beginning: when the Building Owner and any Adjoining Owners do not agree on the works to be executed, or the Adjoining Owner fails to consent to them.
- After works have started: when an Adjoining Owner suffers loss or damage to their property due to the works, even if they consented to them.
When a dispute comes up under the Party Wall Act, the parties involved are obliged to follow the procedure set out in the Act, and appoint a surveyor.
Once the surveyor is appointed the Act does not allow you to remove them and appoint someone else, so it’s worth doing your homework on them.
As with all bureaucracy, and especially with architecture, it can take a significant amount of time to get details checked and agreed between all parties. Starting early can save you a lot of cost and effort.
A Party Wall Award prepared by a Party Wall Surveyor(s) is therefore a legal document binding both Building and Adjoining Owners to resolve a dispute as part of a Party Wall Agreement.
The Party Wall Award will likely cover specificities such as authorising the extent and timing of the works, as well as any additional works needed.
If the dispute centres on any loss or damage caused to the Adjoining Owner, then the Party Wall Award will cover the compensation payable by the Building Owner to the Adjoining Owner.
Only once the Award has been made may the Building Owner start their work, under the conditions specified in the Party Wall Award.
If either party is unhappy with the award made by the surveyor, they have the right to appeal it in the County Court, and this must be done within a fortnight of the award being served.
If the award is not appealed it becomes legally binding and cannot be subsequently challenged.
Who is liable for Party Wall costs?
In most cases, it’s the Building Owner that’s responsible for the costs of the works, and this includes surveyor’s costs for drawing up the Party Wall Award. This is the case of the absolute vast majority of Party Wall Awards.
However, if the Adjoining Owner serves a counter notice for work beyond the Building Owner’s own work (e.g. a higher wall or more expensive materials), or acts in a way that unreasonably increases costs, then the Adjoining Owner will be liable for this.
Common misunderstandings about Party Wall Agreements explained
For Building Owners
It’s great that your neighbour(s) have agreed to the work, but verbal consent is not enough. If they’re happy for the work to go ahead, then they’ll have no problem confirming their consent within 14 days of receiving it.
Remember to follow up on this – your neighbour will be signing up to at least some disruption on their land and may take a more leisurely approach to signing your Party Wall Notice. Don’t let the 14 days elapse or you’ll be in dispute with them.
As specified in Section 5 of the Act, the Adjoining Owner has 14 days to reply to the notice. If they haven’t expressly consented, then they are considered to have dissented and are obliged to appoint a Party Wall surveyor. If they don’t do this, the Building Owner will appoint someone on their behalf.
To fall within the remit of the Act, your proposed works must include excavation within 3 metres of either a neighbouring or shared structure and to a greater depth than the base of the foundations to that structure (this distance is extended to 6 metres if your foundations are particularly deep – for example, with piled foundations).
Section 6 of the Party Wall Act covers adjacent excavations, which covers potential risk to the neighbouring foundations even if you’re digging within your own boundaries not strictly adjacent to the shared structure.
For Adjoining Owners
Unfortunately not – the Act makes no provision for retrospective awards. If there has been no damage, then the courts may permit it to be authorised – but this is unlikely. The adjoining owner building owner will have to get an injunction to stop the work, the building owner have no defence and will be liable for all the costs incurred in legal fees and damage repair.
Section 8 of the Party Wall Act deals with access and, depending on the type of access required, access is permitted subject to a 14 day notice period. It must be shown that there is provision for access under the Act (it only applies to certain kinds of work) and that it is necessary but if the answer to both questions is ‘Yes’ then it must be granted.
A Building Owner wishing to enforce their right of access over a neighbour that refuses to provide access has the right to “break open any fences or doors in order to enter the premises… if accompanied by a constable or other police officer”.
To fall within the remit of the Act, your proposed works must include excavation within 3 metres of either a neighbouring or shared structure and to a greater depth than the base of the foundations to that structure (this distance is extended to 6 metres if your foundations are particularly deep – for example, with piled foundations).
Section 6 of the Party Wall Act covers adjacent excavations, which covers potential risk to the neighbouring foundations even if you’re digging within your own boundaries not strictly adjacent to the shared structure.
How to avoid headaches with Party Wall agreements
We can also advise you on the information the Party Wall Surveyors are likely to need, help you put it together and achieve the Statutory Approvals. It’s worth ensuring that all your planning and building regulation approvals are in place as part of a Full Plans Building Control Application – and we can certainly help you. This includes structural proposals and making this application will help highlight any potential issues.
The earlier you get started, talk to your neighbours and start looking for professionals to help you put the work in, the smoother the process of will be. We know how time-consuming delays can be, so we work to get your Party Wall Agreement done in less than a week, so your project can move forward.
Ready to progress? Feel free to give us a call on 0121 455 0032, write us a message or drop us a line on the chat – we’re experts in getting your Party Wall Agreement – fast!
What happens if I don't get a Party Wall agreement?
If the work is uncomplicated and both parties agree on the details, then there wouldn’t be an issue, but experience tells us that generally this isn’t the case, and it’s short-sighted to start work without an agreement in place.
The Party Wall Act may seem a bit of a drag, but it offers legal protection to both sides. The building owner would give up their rights to work and entry, as well as certain expenses, and the adjoining owner would lose:
- their right to have to work fully defined;
- their right to serve a counter-notice and maintain their easements;
- as their right to security for expenses.
Both sides would also lose the machinery of settling the dispute with a professional surveyor too, so the benefits of having a party wall agreement are clear.
At Lapworth Architects, as well as providing you with the relevant drawings for your application, we can help through this admittedly complex procedure to provide you with a Party Wall Agreement