Statutory framework requiring formal notice and (often) a Party Wall Award when work affects a shared wall, excavating near a neighbour, or building astride a boundary.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 governs work to shared walls, work at a boundary and excavation near a neighbour's building. It requires written notice before the work: one month for a party structure notice, two months for an excavation notice, and one month for a line of junction notice.
Section 1 covers building a new wall at the line of junction. Section 2 covers work to an existing party structure — cutting in a beam, raising or underpinning a party wall, inserting a damp-proof course. Section 6 covers excavation within 3 m of a neighbouring structure and below its foundations, or within 6 m where the excavation falls below a line drawn at 45 degrees from the neighbour's foundation.
Almost every London loft conversion, rear extension and basement engages at least one of these. Cutting a steel into a party wall is section 2; digging a new foundation next to the neighbour's is section 6.
The adjoining owner has fourteen days to consent or dissent. Consent ends the process. Silence counts as dissent, which means a dispute has arisen and surveyors must be appointed — either one agreed surveyor or one for each owner, who together select a third.
The surveyors then produce an award: a binding document setting out the permitted work, the hours, the access arrangements and a schedule of condition recording the neighbour's property before work starts.
The Act has no criminal penalty, but the practical consequences are serious. The neighbour can seek an injunction to stop the work, and without an award and a schedule of condition, any subsequent damage claim is argued from a position of weakness. Building owners pay the surveyors' fees in almost all cases.
A worked Lambeth example of party wall etc. act 1996: with 64 conservation areas — the Clapham Common Conservation Area and the Herne Hill Conservation Area among the best known — London Borough of Lambeth (Lambeth Council) sees party wall etc. act 1996 constantly, and an Article 4 direction is in force there, so permitted development cannot be assumed. Where party wall etc. act 1996 pushes a Lambeth scheme out of permitted development, the route becomes a £548 application decided in 8 weeks rather than a £249 prior approval in 6 weeks. act 1996 is governed by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the GPDO 2015 and the Building Regulations 2010.
| Party structure notice | One month |
|---|---|
| Excavation notice | Two months |
| Line of junction notice | One month |
| Response window | 14 days; silence is dissent |
| Excavation triggers | 3 m below foundations, or 6 m at 45 degrees |
| Our party wall service from |
If a beam bears into the party wall, yes — that is section 2 work.
Silence after fourteen days is a deemed dissent and surveyors must be appointed.
Normally the building owner, as the party benefiting from the works.
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