The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 gives you the right to carry out certain work affecting a shared wall or close to a neighbour's building, provided you serve the correct notice first. It is separate from planning permission and applies whether or not your project needs planning.
Last checked against current guidance on 2026-08-09. Rules differ by borough — the local pages below say how.
In three situations: building on the line of junction, working on an existing party structure, and excavating near a neighbour's building.
| Section | Situation | Notice period |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1 | Building a new wall at or astride the boundary line | 1 month |
| Section 2 / 3 | Work to an existing party wall or structure — cutting in, raising, underpinning, removing a chimney breast | 2 months |
| Section 6 | Excavating within 3m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6m under a 45-degree line from them | 1 month |
The 3m and 6m tests catch far more extensions than people expect: a standard strip foundation beside a boundary usually engages section 6.
Your name and address, the adjoining owner's, a description of the work, the proposed start date, and — for excavation — drawings showing depth and position.
Notices are served on the owner, which includes a leaseholder with more than a year to run, so a flat above may mean two notices. Serve on every adjoining owner: in a mid-terrace that is usually both sides.
A notice is valid for twelve months, so serving too early wastes it and serving too late holds up the build.
The adjoining owner has 14 days to consent in writing, dissent, or do nothing — and doing nothing counts as dissent.
The surveyors are not advocates. Their job under the Act is to produce an award: what work may be done, how, when, and a record of the neighbour's property beforehand.
A notice without drawings is a notice a neighbour cannot assess, and it is the commonest reason a reasonable neighbour dissents. Sections showing excavation depth relative to their foundations turn an alarming letter into a manageable one. The estimator below scopes that package.
Move the controls for an indicative figure. It anchors your budget — it is not a quote. Every project is priced after a free survey.
Build costs are separate and quoted by your contractor. See our published fees.
The award records the agreed working method, access arrangements, working hours, and a schedule of condition photographing the adjoining property before work starts. That schedule is what settles arguments about cracks afterwards — without it, the argument has no baseline.
The building owner normally pays the reasonable surveyors' costs, because the work is for their benefit.
You lose the Act's protections, and the neighbour can seek an injunction to stop the work.
Without a notice there is no award, no agreed method and no schedule of condition — so any damage claim becomes an ordinary dispute about negligence, with no record of what the property looked like before.
It is also the most reliable way to turn a neutral neighbour into an objector on your next application.
No. They are entirely separate. A scheme can be permitted development and still require party wall notices, and vice versa.
They cannot veto work you are entitled to do, but they can dissent, which triggers the surveyor procedure and an award setting out how the work proceeds.
Not legally. A schedule of condition is still strongly advisable so any later damage claim has a baseline.
Yes, where it is a party fence wall astride the boundary and you are working on it or building against it.
Allow two months from serving a party structure notice, plus time for surveyors to agree an award if the neighbour dissents. Start it while planning is being determined.
Party wall procedure is statutory and entirely separate from planning. The Act sets the notice periods; the explanatory booklet is written for homeowners rather than surveyors. Where the work carries structure, the design also has to satisfy Part A of the Building Regulations:
