First, check that the work needs a notice
Plenty of building work does not. Fixing shelves, adding sockets, replastering, and work that never touches the shared wall or goes near your foundations are outside the Act. Look at what is actually happening next door:
- A new wall going up on the boundary. That is a Section 1 matter.
- Work to the shared wall, such as cutting in beams, raising it, removing a chimney breast or underpinning. That is a Section 3 matter. So is rebuilding a shared chimney stack or parapet, or cutting in flashings: see roofing work and the Act.
- Deep digging close to your building, such as foundations or a basement. That is a Section 6 matter.
If none of those is happening, the Act may not apply. If one is, the building owner should have served a notice on you first, and planning permission is not a substitute. See the Party Wall Act explained.
Step 1: record your property as it is now
Before anything else, photograph and video your side of the party wall, the ceilings and floors next to it, the garden wall, and any existing cracks or damp, with the date on each. The work may already be under way, but a record of today’s condition still helps to separate old defects from new damage. Keep the files somewhere safe.
Step 2: ask in writing
Write to your neighbour and keep a copy. Be polite and factual. Ask whether they have served notices under the Act, ask for copies, and ask them to hold off any work to the shared wall, or digging near your building, until the process has been followed. You are not asking them to stop their whole project, only the parts the Act covers.
Dear [neighbour’s name],
I have seen that building work has started at [address]. I understand that the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply to [the work to the shared wall / the excavation / the new boundary wall]. Please would you tell me whether you have served notices under the Act, and send me copies.
Until the notices have been served and the process under the Act has been followed, please do not carry out any work to the party wall or any excavation near my property. I would be glad to talk it through.
Yours sincerely,
[your name and address]
Deliver it by hand or by post and keep proof. An email is fine as a quick reminder, but a letter is better evidence.
Step 3: speak to a surveyor before the work goes further
A letter from a surveyor often does what a letter from a worried neighbour cannot. A surveyor can:
- check whether the Act applies to what is being built
- write to the building owner on your behalf
- record the condition of your property in a schedule of condition before more work is done
- bring the process back on track, so that the work continues under an award that protects you
Where the Act applies, the building owner normally pays your surveyor’s reasonable fees. When no notice was served there may be no award yet, so agree with the surveyor at the start how the fee will be handled, and get it in writing. Our first call is free.
Step 4: if the work carries on
If the owner ignores you and work that the Act covers continues, the remedy is in the courts, not with the council. A court can order an injunction to stop the work until the Act is followed, and you may be able to claim damages for loss or damage. Court action is slow and expensive, so the aim is almost always to get the process started rather than to go to court. A surveyor’s letter comes first, and a solicitor’s if that fails.
Two things not to do. Do not try to stop the builders yourself, and do not let the dispute turn personal. A calm, written record is worth far more.
What a late notice can and cannot do
Sometimes the owner serves a notice after work has started. A late notice cannot give back the notice period, but the process can still protect you from that point. The surveyors can record your property, and the award can set out how the remaining work is to be done, the working hours, the protection for your home and who pays if damage occurs.
If the work is already finished, a surveyor can still inspect, record what has been done and advise you on dealing with any damage. What is possible depends on how far the work has gone and on whether the other owner co-operates.
What not to do
- Do not wait and hope. Cracks and damp are much harder to link to the work if you have no record from before it began.
- Do not accept a casual “we’ll sort it” instead of notices. Ask for them in writing.
- Do not sign anything you have not read, especially a consent form that arrives after the work has started.
- Do not assume the council will step in. Planning and building control do not enforce this Act. It is a civil matter between neighbours.
- Do not accept the building owner’s surveyor as your own. You are free to choose your own.
Planning permission does not replace a notice
Your neighbour may well have planning permission and building control approval. Neither replaces a party wall notice, and a party wall notice does not give anyone planning permission. Most councils publish planning applications online, which can help you work out what is planned.
If you are the one who started the work
If you are a building owner reading this because you started work and then heard about the Act: stop any work that touches the party wall or digs near your neighbour’s building, and serve the right notices now. Tell your neighbour openly, and offer them a record of the condition of their property. Builders often assume the owner has dealt with it, and owners assume the builder has. Putting it right early costs far less than an injunction in the middle of a project.
Talk to us
The first call is free, whichever side you are on. We will tell you whether the Act applies, which notices or steps are needed and what we would charge, in writing. Call 0800 999 1947, or see help for neighbours and help for building owners.
Questions about work started without a notice
Is it a criminal offence to start work without a party wall notice?
No. The Act has no criminal penalty for failing to serve a notice. The remedies are civil, such as an injunction to stop the work or damages for loss or damage. That is why a calm first step in writing, backed by a surveyor, is usually the most effective.
Can the council stop my neighbour’s building work?
Not under this Act. Planning and building control are separate from the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and the council does not enforce it. Planning permission does not replace a party wall notice either. Between neighbours it is a civil matter.
Can I claim if the work damages my property?
You may be able to. Where work is carried out under the Act, the building owner must compensate an adjoining owner for loss or damage it causes. For work done without the process you would look to the ordinary civil law. Either way, photographs and a schedule of condition made before the work make a claim far easier to prove.
Do I have to let my neighbour’s builders onto my property?
Under the Act, a building owner who needs to enter your land to carry out work must give you at least 14 days’ notice, except in an emergency. Without the notices the Act requires, they have no right to come in under it. See can a neighbour refuse access for building work?.
Who pays for my surveyor?
Where the Act applies, the building owner normally pays your surveyor’s reasonable fees. When notices were not served there may be no award yet, so agree with the surveyor at the start how their fee will be dealt with, and get it in writing.