My neighbour has started work without a party wall notice
If building work next door affects your shared wall, the boundary or your foundations, your neighbour should have served notice before starting. Here's what the law says, and what you can do now to protect your home.
First, does the work need a notice?
Not all building work near a boundary needs a party wall notice. It's required for:
- work to the shared wall, such as cutting in steel beams, removing a chimney breast, raising, underpinning or exposing the wall (section 2)
- building a new wall on or up to the boundary (section 1)
- digging foundations within 3 metres of your home and deeper than its foundations, or within 6 metres for deeper digs (section 6)
Work wholly within your neighbour's own property, away from the boundary, such as internal alterations or a new kitchen, usually doesn't need notice. If you're not sure, our notice checker or a quick call will tell you.
What to do now
- Talk to your neighbour, calmly. Many building owners simply don't know about the Act, and builders don't always tell them. Ask them to pause the work affecting your property and serve the proper notices. That's often all it takes.
- Put it in writing. Follow up with a short letter or email: what work you've seen, when it started, and that you're asking them to serve notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 before continuing. Keep a copy.
- Record the condition of your home today. Take dated photos and videos of the party wall on your side, nearby rooms and ceilings, and any existing cracks. If damage appears later, this is your evidence.
- Get advice quickly. A party wall surveyor can explain your position, contact the building owner on your behalf, and get the process back on track.
- If work continues regardless, and it's affecting your property, you can apply to the court for an injunction to stop it until notices are served. That's a last resort, but it's available. Take legal advice before going down that route.
Is excavation happening near your house right now? Digging close to your foundations, or cutting into the shared wall, can cause damage quickly. Don't wait: call us on 07827 675 890.
What the law says
- The building owner must serve notice before starting notifiable work: one or two months beforehand, depending on the work.
- If they don't, they can't rely on the rights the Act gives them, such as the right to cut into the party wall. You may be able to bring claims outside the Act, for example in trespass or nuisance.
- Failing to serve notice isn't a criminal offence, and the council doesn't enforce the Party Wall Act. Planning and building control are separate regimes. Your remedies are civil ones: an agreement, the Act's own dispute process once notices are served, or the courts.
- Once notices are served, the normal process applies. You can consent or dissent, and if you dissent, surveyors are appointed to agree an award. The building owner normally pays the surveyors' fees, including your surveyor's.
The courts won't let a building owner benefit from skipping notice. In Roadrunner Properties v Dean (2003), the Court of Appeal held that a building owner who works on a party wall without serving notice "should not be allowed to obtain a forensic advantage" from that failure. Where the damage is the kind you'd expect from the work, and appeared when the work was done, courts should take a "reasonably robust approach to causation" and be slow to accept theoretical explanations from the building owner after the event. You still need to show the link, which is why dated photos of your home matter, but the building owner will need cogent evidence to show the work wasn't to blame.
If damage has already happened
Photograph it straight away, note the date, and tell the building owner in writing. A surveyor can record the damage and advise on how it should be put right. Getting notices served now also brings the rest of the work under the Act's protection, with a schedule of condition and an award covering how it's done.
Are you the building owner?
If you've started work and only just realised you needed to serve notice, stop the work affecting the party wall or near your neighbour's foundations, and serve notice now. It's far better than waiting for your neighbour to take action. We can prepare and serve notices quickly.
Skipping notice can cost you far more than serving it. Without a schedule of condition, courts take a robust view of damage claims against building owners who didn't serve notice (Roadrunner Properties v Dean, 2003). In that case the building owner also paid the costs of a trial and an appeal.
Questions
Can the council stop my neighbour's building work if they haven't served a party wall notice?
No. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is civil law, and councils don't enforce it. Building control and planning officers can only act on breaches of building regulations or planning rules, which are separate matters.
Is it illegal to build without a party wall notice?
It's not a criminal offence. But a building owner who carries out notifiable work without notice can't rely on the Act's protections, and can face an injunction stopping the work and claims for any damage.
Will I have to pay for a party wall surveyor?
Normally not. Once notices are served and a dispute arises, the building owner pays the reasonable fees of the surveyors, including yours. Our first consultation is free, so you can get advice before committing to anything.
The work is finished. Is it too late?
You may still have a claim if the work damaged your property. Take photos, gather what evidence you can, and get advice. A surveyor can assess the damage, and a solicitor can advise on claims outside the Act.
Not sure if the Act applies to your project?
Tell us what you're planning. We'll tell you, free of charge, whether you need to serve notice and what happens next.