Party Wall Surveys

Not sure if you need a Party Wall Surveyor?

Contact us and we will give free notifiability checks on your drawings, free advice on which notices are to be sent, which sections to apply and the notice period.

What Is a Party Wall Survey?

A party wall surveyor service under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, for England and Wales.

If you're building an extension, converting a loft, removing a chimney breast, underpinning, or digging foundations near a neighbouring building, the Act probably applies to you. It gives you a legal right to carry out work that would otherwise be a trespass, and it gives your neighbour protection while you do it.

Both sides of that bargain depend on serving the right notice, at the right time, in the right form.

It is not a structural survey, a homebuyer's report, or a boundary determination.

It is a statutory process with fixed deadlines and a defined outcome.

SolidPoint prepares and serves the notices, acts as the appointed surveyor where a dispute arises, records the condition of the adjoining property before work starts, and produces the Award that governs how the work is carried out.

The Regulations Involved

There is no licence, register or minimum qualification required to act as a party wall surveyor. Section 20 of the Act defines a surveyor as any person who is not a party to the matter. This is worth knowing when you choose one - ask what qualifications they hold, what insurance they carry, and who checks their Awards.

The regulations involved with party wall surveys are as follows:

Party Wall etc. Act 1996 - The statute. Applies to England and Wales only.

RICS professional standard, Party wall legislation and procedure, 7th edition - Published 2019, reissued as a professional standard in May 2023. This is the recognised standard of practice.

Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 - Governs the engagement (pre-contract information and the 14 day cancellation right)

Consumer Rights Act 2015 - Covers reasonable care and skill, transparency, unfair terms

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 - Replaced the CPUT Regulations 2008 on 6 April 2025. Governs price claims and misleading omissions on the website itself

UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 - Photographing inside people's homes. ICO registration current

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Some Indicators That You May Need a Party Wall Survey

Here are some of the common situations that indicate the need for a party wall survey:

- Cutting into a shared wall to take a steel beam, joists or a flue
- Removing a chimney breast on a party wall
- Raising, thickening, underpinning or rebuilding a shared wall
- Inserting a damp proof course through a party wall
- Cutting a flashing into the neighbour's wall where a new roof meets it
- Building a new wall on, or right up to the boundary
- Digging foundations within 3 metres of a neighbouring building and deeper than its foundations
- Digging within 6 metres where the excavation cuts a 45 degree line down from the neighbour's foundations

If any professional, such as a builder, an architect or a solicitor, or your neighbour has mentioned the phrase 'party wall' to you, this also a strong indicator that a Party Wall Survey is required.

If you're unsure, you can send us the drawings and we can tell you whether the Act applies before you commit to anything.

How Much Does a Party Wall Survey Cost?

Our pricing calculator provides an instant guide to the cost of professional surveys across the UK.

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How a Party Wall Survey Can Reduce Costs

1. They remove injuction risk. Work stopped by a court order costs more in a fortnight than the whole party wall process.

2. A Schedule of Condition kills speculative damage claims. A dated photographic record of the neighbour's property before you start is the difference between a claim you can answer and a claim you cannot.

3. A fixed fee moves the risk of a long job onto us. If the job runs longer than expected, that is our problem, not yours.

4. They prevent the most expensive mistake - missing a notice. Serving late means serving again and waiting the full period a second time. A two month section 3 period is a two month hole in a build programme.

5. They clear the sale. The party wall enquiry is a standard pre-contract question, and missing paperwork holds up completion.

What Are The Benefits of a Party Wall Survey?

The Act gives you a legal right to build, rather than leaving you dependent on a neighbour staying reasonable.

Handled properly, it also gives you a dated record of your neighbour's property before work starts, which is what turns a later damage claim from an argument into a question of fact.

Our fee is fixed, with the small items inside it rather than added afterwards. They're also published in full alongside the sources we benchmarked them against. You deal with a named individual surveyor throughout, not a call centre.

When you come to sell, the party wall enquiry is a standard pre-contract question with a clean answer already on file.

What You'll Receive

Everything arrives as PDF, with the paper copies noted below.

You get the notices exactly as they were served, together with the proof of service, which is the Royal Mail delivery record showing the date they arrived. That date matters more than the date they were posted, because every statutory period runs from delivery.

Where a dispute arises you also receive the Schedule of Condition, a dated photographic and written record of the relevant parts of your neighbour's property before anything starts, and the Party Wall Award itself, with the drawings scheduled to it. The Award comes as a PDF and as two bound paper copies at no extra charge. At the end of the works we issue a completion certificate confirming the work finished and recording whether damage was identified.

We keep the file for six years. If you sell within that time we will send your solicitor a certified copy of the Award, the Schedule of Condition and the completion certificate, free of charge.

Unsure if you need a party wall survey?

Some common applications include:

Residential building work above ground

- Rear and side extensions
- Loft conversions
- Chimney breast removals
- Structural openings between properties,
- Repairs or alterations to a shared wall

Work below ground

Basements, lightwells, underpinning and any new foundations near a neighbouring building will usually trigger a notice under section 6 even where nothing touches the party wall itself.

New boundary and garden walls fall under section 1.

Developments with several adjoining owners need a separate notice, and often a separate surveyor, for each one.

Some risks you may face if you don't get the survey:

Injunction - Your neighbour can apply to court to stop the work, and in a serious case to undo what has been built.

No defence to a damage claim - Without a Schedule of Condition it is one person's memory against another's, and the burden sits on the person defending.

No statutory rights - No right of entry, no right to place footings, no mechanism to resolve anything.

It surfaces on sale - The party wall enquiry is standard, and missing paperwork delays or collapses completions.

Serving late does not fix it - A notice served after work has begun does not authorise what has already been done.

Why Choose SolidPoint?

We deliver detailed, measured survey data using modern survey equipment, including total stations, laser scanning, and drones where appropriate.

Our surveys are carried out in line with recognised UK surveying practices and can be tailored to suit your project requirements, ensuring the right level of detail is captured.

This provides clear, reliable information to support your project from the outset.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do I need my neighbour's permission?

No. The Act is enabling legislation. Your neighbour cannot veto work you are lawfully entitled to do.

What they get is a surveyor, a record of their property before you start, and an Award setting out how the work is carried out.

What if my neighbour ignores the notice?

Silence is not consent. On a section 3 or section 6 notice, if they do not respond within 14 days a dispute is deemed to have arisen and surveyors are appointed.

On a section 1 line of junction notice there is no deemed dissent and different rules apply.

Who pays the surveyors' fees?

Section 10(13) puts the reasonable costs of the Award on whichever owner the surveyors determine.

On ordinary work done for the building owner's benefit, that is the building owner, who pays the reasonable fees of both surveyors.

I am the neighbour. Will this cost me anything?

In the ordinary case, nothing. You may appoint your own surveyor and the building owner pays their reasonable fees.

How long does it take?

The notice period fixes the start date, not the surveyor.

Two months for a party structure notice, one month for an excavation notice, one month for a line of junction notice. Everything else runs alongside.

My neighbour already said it was fine.

Verbal agreement does not satisfy the Act. A formal written notice must be served and the consent must be in writing.

Does it replace planning permission or building regulations?

No. They are separate and you need all of them that apply.

What if I just get on with it?

The Act never engages. There is no Award and no protection.

Your neighbour can seek an injunction, you have no defence to a damage claim because there is no Schedule of Condition, and it surfaces when you sell.

What is a Schedule of Condition?

A dated photographic record of the relevant parts of your neighbour's property, taken before anything starts. If a crack appears later, it settles in an afternoon what was there before.

Can one surveyor act for both of us?

Yes, if both owners agree. That is an Agreed Surveyor appointment under section 10(1)(a).

On basement, underpinning and party structure removal schemes we act as Building Owner's Surveyor instead, so that a second surveyor reads the Award before it binds anyone.