Start with the group that matches your situation. If you are planning building work, read the guides on notices and the projects you are planning. If a neighbour has served a notice on you, start with what to do next.
Not sure where to begin? Call us for free on 0800 999 1947. We will tell you which guide will help.
Planning building work
- Do I need a surveyorWhen the Act requires a surveyor, when it is your choice, and how to choose one.
- Serving your own noticeWhat a valid notice needs, who to serve, and the mistakes that invalidate one.
- Notice templateExample wording for Section 1, 3 and 6 notices, and a form of consent.
- Is a party wall agreement necessaryWhat people mean by an agreement, when you need one and what skipping it risks.
- Can a neighbour stop my workNo veto under the Act, but a neighbour can dissent, and other rules can still stop you.
- Neighbour refusing accessWhen you can enter a neighbour’s land for building work, and what to do when they refuse.
Your neighbour has served a notice
- I have received a noticeStep by step. Note the date, read the notice, check it, then decide.
- How to respond to a noticeConsent, agreed surveyor or your own. What each means, and wording to adapt.
Costs and timings
- Who pays for a surveyorThe building owner usually pays both surveyors. The exceptions, and how to keep the cost down.
- How long a notice lastsOne or two months’ notice, 12 months’ validity, and what happens if plans change.
The Act, section by section
- The Act explainedWhat the Act covers, the notice periods, the 3 m and 6 m rules, with diagrams.
- Section 1 party wall noticeA new wall on the boundary. One month’s notice, and what your neighbour can do.
- Section 3 party wall noticeWork to an existing shared wall. Two months’ notice.
- Section 6 party wall noticeDigging near a neighbour’s foundations. The 3 m and 6 m rules.
- The third surveyorThe tie-breaker in a party wall dispute: who picks them, when they act and what they cost.
- Questions and answersShort answers to the questions we hear most, from both sides.
Projects
- Loft conversionsSteel beams on a shared wall usually need a notice two months ahead.
- Rear and side extensionsNew boundary walls, shared walls and foundations. Which notices apply.
- Basements and underpinningDigging below a neighbour’s foundations needs a Section 6 notice.
- Chimney breast removalA chimney breast on a shared wall is part of that wall.
- Roofing workRaising a wall, cutting in flashings, chimneys and parapets. What needs a notice, and what it costs.
- Garden rooms and outbuildingsWhen a garden room, shed or garage needs a notice, and when it does not.
Articles
- Neighbour has not repliedWhat silence means, the ten-day request, and when you can start.
- Detached housesNo shared wall, but boundary walls and deep foundations can still need a notice.
- Fences and garden wallsMasonry boundary walls are covered. Timber fences and hedges are not.
- Buying or selling a houseWhy solicitors ask about notices and awards, and what to keep.
- Work started without noticeRecord your property, ask in writing, get a surveyor, and know your options.
- Flats, leaseholders and tenantsParty floors and walls, who counts as an owner, and the lease.