Party Wall Award Process Explained: What Happens Step by Step

The party wall award process can feel complex and confrontational, but it exists to protect both building owners and their neighbours during construction work that affects shared or adjacent structures. Understanding the process helps you plan your project timeline and budget accurately.

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 requires you to serve formal notice on any adjoining owners (neighbours sharing a boundary, wall, or structure) before starting certain types of work. The work types requiring notice include work on an existing party wall or party structure, excavations within three metres of an adjoining building to a depth below its foundations, and new building on or at the boundary.

Once notice is served, the adjoining owner has fourteen days to respond. The response can be one of three things: written consent, no response (which is treated as dissent after the fourteen-day period), or a written request to appoint a surveyor to agree an award.

If the neighbour dissents or fails to respond, both parties must appoint surveyors. You as the building owner must pay for the neighbouring owner's surveyor as well as your own. The two surveyors then agree an award between them. If they cannot agree, they appoint a third surveyor whose decision is final.

The Party Wall Award is a legal document that sets out: a description of the work to be done, conditions under which the work must be carried out, a schedule of condition of the neighbouring property before work begins, the rights and obligations of both parties, and an agreed access arrangement if required.

The schedule of condition is important — it documents the state of the neighbouring property before work starts, so that any damage caused by the construction can be identified and attributed correctly. This protects both parties.

Timescales vary. Once notice is served, the fourteen-day response period applies. If a surveyor is required, the time to agree an award can range from four to twelve weeks depending on the complexity of the project and the responsiveness of the parties. It is common for this to extend a project's pre-construction period by six to twelve weeks.

Costs for a party wall award range from eight hundred to two thousand five hundred pounds per neighbouring owner for a standard residential project. This includes your own surveyor and the neighbouring owner's surveyor (which you pay for). Complex structural projects, multiple neighbours, or contentious cases cost more.

Common triggers in London projects are rear extensions with excavation within three metres of a neighbour's foundation, loft conversions involving party wall or chimney work, and basement excavations. Any project with excavation within six metres of an adjoining building to a depth below a 45-degree line from the base of the neighbour's foundation also triggers the Act.

RCB works with specialist party wall surveyors on London projects and includes party wall timing in our pre-construction planning as standard. +44 7359 872594 | connect@rcbGroup.co.uk | www.rcbGroup.co.uk