For Building Owners
You are the Building Owner if you are the party undertaking notifiable works under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. The Act places obligations on you, but it also protects your right to proceed, on a clear timeline, with full knowledge of where you stand with your neighbours.
What we do for a Building Owner.
We sit on your side of the table for the entire process. From identifying which sections of the Act apply to your works, through service of notice, agreeing the Award with the Adjoining Owner’s surveyor, through to final post-works inspection. Our objective is straightforward: keep your project on schedule while observing the Act in full.
Where we are involved.
Pre-notice consultation
A review of your proposed works, identifying which Adjoining Owners must be served and which sections of the Act apply.
Notice drafting and service
Statutory notices prepared correctly, served at the right time, by the right method, on the right people. Defective notices are common and routinely cause delay.
Acting as Building Owner’s surveyor
Or, where both Owners agree, as Agreed Surveyor for both sides.
Drafting the Award
In plain, defensible English, structured so the contractor, the owners and any future surveyor can rely on it.
Schedule of Condition
Of the Adjoining Owner’s property, professionally prepared.
Damage inspections
During and after works, to demonstrate that nothing arising on site falls to your liability.
Your obligations under the Act.
Serve notice
Before commencement, on every Adjoining Owner, in the prescribed form.
Wait the notice period
Two months for Section 1 and Section 2 notices; one month for Section 6.
Pay reasonable surveyors’ fees
On both sides, under Section 11(1).
Observe the Award
In full, including any working-hours restrictions, access conditions and protections.
Allow inspections
Of the Adjoining Owner’s property before, during and after works, where the Award provides for them.
A typical timeline.
Weeks 1–2
Pre-notice review and identification of Adjoining Owners.
Weeks 2–3
Notices drafted and served.
Weeks 3–5
Adjoining Owner response period (14 days statutory).
Weeks 5–8
Surveyor appointments, Schedule of Condition, Award drafted.
Weeks 8–10
Award signed. Works may commence.
On completion
Final inspection against the Schedule. Any damage identified and resolved.
Most Party Wall delays are not caused by neighbours objecting. They are caused by Building Owners serving notice too late. Allowing six to twelve weeks between notice and the start of works is the single best way to keep a programme intact.
Frequently asked.
Can I serve the notice myself?
The Act does not require a surveyor to serve notice. However, defective notices are common, are routinely challenged, and frequently cost more in lost programme than the small fee of having them drafted and served correctly.
How long is the process really?
For a typical extension with one or two Adjoining Owners, six to eight weeks from notice to Award. Basement projects and multiple Adjoining Owners can extend that to ten to fourteen weeks. Plan accordingly.
Can I start work before the Award is signed?
If your works fall within the Act, no. Commencing notifiable works without an Award exposes you to an injunction from the Adjoining Owner, which can halt your project mid-build, and unlimited liability for any damage caused.
Do I have to pay if my neighbour appoints an expensive surveyor?
You pay reasonable surveyors’ fees, not unlimited fees. Where charges are unreasonable, the matter can be referred to the Third Surveyor for determination. In practice, this is rare with competent surveyors on both sides.
What is an Agreed Surveyor?
Where you and the Adjoining Owner are happy for the same independent surveyor to act for both, that surveyor is an Agreed Surveyor. This is faster and cheaper than appointing two surveyors. We act as Agreed Surveyor regularly.
Other services our clients ask for.
Party Wall Surveyors in London.
Independent, RICS-regulated Party Wall surveyors acting for Building Owners undertaking works and Adjoining Owners protecting their property. Serving notices, agreeing Awards, preparing…
Learn more →Schedule of Condition
A photographic and written record of a property’s condition at a defined point in time, prepared by an RICS Chartered Surveyor. Used…
Learn more →For Adjoining Owners
You are the Adjoining Owner if your neighbour is undertaking notifiable works under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. You have rights,…
Learn more →Notice served, programme protected.
Send us a short description of your proposed works and the planned start date. We confirm what is notifiable and quote a fixed fee the same working day.