Why 'party wall agreement' isn't in the Act

Search for a template to sign and you will not find one. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996, which extends to England and Wales only under section 22(4), never uses the phrase 'party wall agreement' anywhere in its text.

What the term actually stands in for

People reach for 'party wall agreement' to describe the point where a neighbour has accepted the work. The Act gets there by a different route: it sets out a notice, gives the neighbour a fixed period to respond, and then produces one of three legal outcomes depending on what happens next.

Which of the three applies to your job depends on how your neighbour reacts, and each one carries a different cost and a different weight if a dispute follows later.

After you serve notice

The three ways your neighbour can respond

What actually happens once you serve a notice depends on how your neighbour answers it. There are three outcomes: consent in writing, a notice indicating consent, or an award.

  1. You serve the notice

    The building owner (the person carrying out the work) serves notice on the adjoining owner, the neighbour whose property shares the wall, floor or boundary affected. What happens next is out of your hands until they answer.

  2. Your neighbour responds

    From here the notice can go one of three ways, and each one leads somewhere different.

    Consent in writing

    The adjoining owner agrees to what you've proposed and puts it in writing. Section 3(3)(a).

    Notice indicating consent

    The adjoining owner serves a notice back that indicates consent. Section 5.

    No agreement

    The adjoining owner disputes the notice, or nothing comes back in time. That leads to an award. Section 10.

  3. An award settles the third case

    A surveyor, or two surveyors working together, draw up the award. It sets out the work that can go ahead and any conditions attached to it. Section 10(13) leaves who pays for the award itself to the surveyors; section 11(1) makes the building owner liable for the cost of the works.

    Section 20 defines a surveyor as any person not being a party to the matter. The only restriction is that you can't appoint yourself.

    One surveyor for both

    You and your neighbour agree on a single surveyor to act for both sides. Section 10(1)(a).

    One surveyor each

    Each of you appoints your own surveyor, and the two of them handle it between them. Section 10(1)(b).

This applies to building work in England and Wales. Section 22(4) sets that limit.

What happens after the notice is served

Once a party structure notice or excavation notice has been served, three things can happen next, and each one leads somewhere different.

Consent in writing

The adjoining owner (the neighbour whose property is affected) can agree to the work in writing. This is consent under section 3(3)(a), and it applies to party structure notices. Once it's given, the work can go ahead on the terms set out in the notice, and no surveyor needs to be appointed.

A notice indicating consent

Under section 5, the adjoining owner can respond in a way that counts as consent to the notice itself. Where this happens, the matter is settled without a dispute, and the building owner (the person carrying out the work) can proceed.

An award

Where the adjoining owner does not consent, or does not respond within fourteen days, a dispute is treated as having arisen. That dispute is resolved by an award under section 10, drawn up by a surveyor or surveyors appointed under the Act. The award sets out what work can be done, how and when, and it's the document most people are actually thinking of when they talk about a party wall agreement.

Which of these applies to your job depends on the notice type and how your neighbour responds. The notice periods page sets out the timing for each notice, and if you're weighing up whether a surveyor needs to be involved at all, Do You Need a Party Wall Surveyor? covers how that decision gets made.