What is the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and when do you have to serve notice?
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 governs work to a shared wall, building on the boundary line, or excavating near a neighbour's foundations. You must serve written notice — two months for party wall work, one for excavation — whether or not you need planning permission.
Party Wall etc. Act 1996 in one paragraph
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 governs work to a shared wall, building on the boundary line, or excavating near a neighbour's foundations. You must serve written notice — two months for party wall work, one for excavation — whether or not you need planning permission.
Legal basis: Party Wall etc. Act 1996, sections 1, 2, 3 and 6.
The three triggers
Section 2 covers work to an existing party wall — cutting in to take a beam, raising it, underpinning it, removing a chimney breast. Section 1 covers building a new wall on or at the boundary line. Section 6 covers excavation within three metres of a neighbouring structure to a depth below its foundations, or within six metres where a line drawn down at forty-five degrees from the neighbour's foundation would meet your excavation.
The six-metre rule surprises people most often, and it is exactly the one that catches London basement and rear-extension work, where foundations are deep and plots are narrow.
Notice periods and what a neighbour can do
Two months for party wall work under section 2, one month for line-of-junction and excavation notices. A neighbour may consent in writing, which ends the matter, or dissent — which does not stop the work but triggers the appointment of surveyors and a party wall award recording the condition of the property and the manner of the work. Silence counts as dissent after fourteen days.
Why it is not a planning matter, and why that catches people out
Planning permission and party wall consent are entirely separate regimes with separate timetables and separate decision-makers. The council does not check party wall compliance before granting permission, and a granted permission confers no right to work on a shared wall. Nothing in the planning process will warn you.
The practical consequence is a scheduling one: a two-month notice period served after approval delays the start of work by two months. Served in parallel with the application, it costs nothing at all.
What the drawings have to show
A party wall surveyor needs to see what is actually proposed at the shared wall: sections through the junction, the depth and type of the new foundation, the position and bearing of any beam cut into the wall, and the excavation depth relative to the neighbour's foundation. That is the same information a building regulations package contains, which is why serving notice is straightforward once those drawings exist and guesswork before they do.
Party Wall etc. Act 1996: common questions
Do I need a party wall agreement for a rear extension?+
What happens if I do not serve notice?+
Who pays for the party wall surveyor?+
Where party wall etc. act 1996 affects the drawings
Sources
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