Serving Party Wall Notices

Party Wall Notices

There are 3 types of Party Wall Notice that a Building Owner may be required to serve upon an adjoining owner in relation to works that fall within the scope of the Party Wall Act.

Party Structure Notice
Notice of Adjacent Excavation
Line of Junction Notice

Party Structure Notice

Section 3 of the Act covers Party Structure Notices which cover works notifiable under Section 2(2) (a) to (n). In general, the works are significant alterations to the Party Wall itself and include work such as cutting into the Party Wall for any purpose, e.g. inserting a damp course, removing a chimney breast etc.

Some works on a party wall may be so minor that service of notice under the Act would be generally regarded as not necessary. Examples include drilling into the wall for fixings and replastering.

The notice period required is 2 months before the planned starting date. There is no official form for the Party Wall Notice but it must include the following to be valid:

Name and address of the building owner
Nature and particulars of the proposed work
The date on which the proposed work will begin
The adjoining owner has 14 days to respond before there is automatically deemed to be a Party Wall Dispute and obliged to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor.

Notice of Adjacent Excavation

Party Wall Notices of Adjacent Excavation relate to works notifiable under section 6 of the Party Wall Act and there are two types:

Excavation within a distance of three metres of a building or structure of an adjoining owner where any part of the proposed excavation will extend to a lower level than the level of the bottom of the foundations of the building or structure of the adjoining owner.
Excavation within a distance of six metres of a building or structure of an adjoining owner where any part of the proposed excavation will meet a plane drawn downwards at an angle of 45 degrees from the bottom of the foundations of a building or structure of the adjoining owner.
The Party Wall notice must contain the same information as a Party Structure Notice along with plans and sections showing the proposed excavation with a plan of the location of the new building or structure.

The notice period required is 1 month before the planned starting date

The adjoining owner has 14 days to respond before they are automatically deemed to be a Party Wall Dispute and obliged to appoint a Party Wall Surveyor.

Line of Junction Notice

A Line of Junction Notice is served under Section 1 of the Act and covers two types of work:

The construction of a new wall adjacent to a boundary.
The construction of a new wall astride a boundary.
The notice period required is 1 month before the intended start date for the building works. The notice must state the desire to build and describe the intended wall.

If no response is received to a Section 1 notice, relating to the intention to build a new wall up to the boundary, the work can commence when the notice period has expired. The Building Owner may place below the level of the land of the adjoining owner such projecting footings and foundations as are necessary for the construction of the wall.

An adjoining owner may prevent the building of a new wall astride the boundary. If the adjoining owner does not respond in writing within 14 days the building owner will have to build the new wall entirely on his side of the boundary line. The Building Owner may place below the level of the land of the adjoining owner such projecting footings and foundations as are necessary for the construction of the wall.

Serving Notices

A Notice may be served in person or by post. If the owner’s name is not known the notice may be served on and addressed to “The Owner” but must be delivered personally or displayed on the premises

See our Locate  a Party Wall Surveyor page to find a Surveyor who can advise and prepare the correct Notice and provide the following offer.