Party Wall Notice Explained
What is a Party Wall Notice?
The Party Wall Etc. Act 1996 (the Act) sets out to protect property owners' interests when a project is taking place, while at the same time ensuring that the project can continue with minimal delays. It is the law that you must serve the correct and valid notices on affected neighbours if your architectural project affects a party wall or structure. When your project includes works covered under The Act you will need to serve a party wall notice, notifying neighbours of your proposed works. A party wall notice enables you to carry out work and can protect you against erroneous claims. Party wall matters are handled separately from Planning and Building Regulations and is usually best to start just as you submit a planning application.
What is a Party Wall?
A party wall is a wall that stands on the land of two (or more) owners and usually forms part of a building. This can be part of one building only, or multiple buildings who have different owners. In some cases a party wall does not form part of a building e.g. a garden wall (not including timber fences). A party wall can also be located on one person’s land but used by two or more owners of separate properties. Clear as mud? The process can be confusing and daunting – take out the stress by talking to our team today about your potential party wall issues.
Do you need to serve a party wall notice?
If your works are minor e.g. repairs such as re-plastering, cutting into the party wall to hang a TV or put up a shelf, or replacing electric wiring and sockets you may not need to serve notice. We can help you check whether you need to serve notice or not!
If your architectural project includes one or more notifiable works under the Act, then notice must be served on all affected neighbouring parties, this includes freeholders and leaseholders. The notifiable works are:
· Building on (or touching) the line of junction (section 1)
· Works to a party wall (section 2)
· Nearby excavation (section 6)
The notice must include various details such as the exact names of the parties involved, relevant dates and should also include citations of the relevant details of the Act, a description of the proposed works and in some cases specific drawings. If any details on the notice are missing or incorrect the notice will be invalid and the process must start again. We would always advise working with an experienced party wall surveyor if you need to serve notice. The good news is we have our own expert as part of the team! You can find out more about the Act by following this LINK.
A party wall surveyor can help with serving notices correctly, organising approved inspections, creating a schedule of condition report and construction work inspection. They can also assist in dispute resolution. Of course, we always work to avoid disputes but they can happen, so we always recommend serving the appropriate notices even if you are best friends with your neighbour. This way you and your neighbour can benefit from the protection the Act gives and can comply with applicable laws.
When do you need to serve notice?
We recommend you serve party wall notice just as your project is submitted for planning/permitted development etc. This gives you at least two months before the proposed works begin. Once notice is served, you can take up to a year to start work. If you don’t serve notice and you start work, your neighbours may seek to stop your work through a court injunction or other legal redresses. Let’s avoid that stress! Talk to our team at Method Studio Architecture today if you have any questions.