Party wall notices are the formal written warnings the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 requires before you carry out certain work on or near a shared wall, boundary or neighbouring foundation. There are three main types, served under Sections 1, 3 and 6 of the Act. Each has its own minimum notice period: one month or two. Serve the wrong one, serve it late or miss an owner, and your neighbour can seek an injunction to stop your builders on site.
This guide explains each notice type, the statutory timelines with a dated worked example, what happens when a neighbour ignores a notice, and exactly how to serve one properly.
Key takeaways
- Section 1 (new wall on the boundary) and Section 6 (excavation near a neighbour’s foundations) need at least one month’s notice.
- Section 3 (work to an existing party wall) needs at least two months’ notice.
- A neighbour who does not reply within 14 days is treated as having dissented, which starts the surveyor process.
- Section 3 and Section 6 notices lapse after 12 months if work has not started.
In this guide
- What is a party wall notice?
- Do you need to serve a party wall notice?
- The three types of party wall notices
- Party wall notice timelines, step by step
- What happens if a neighbour doesn’t respond
- How to serve a party wall notice
- Example party wall notice format
- Common party wall notice mistakes
- How K&A serves party wall notices for you
- Party wall notice FAQs
What is a party wall notice?
A party wall notice is a written notification that a building owner must serve on every adjoining owner before starting work covered by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. It states who is doing the work, what it involves and when it starts, and gives the neighbour 14 days to consent or dissent.
The notice is what switches the Act on. Serving it gives you statutory rights, such as cutting into a party wall to take a steel beam, that you would not otherwise have over your neighbour’s side of the structure. It also gives your neighbour a route to protection through surveyors and a Party Wall Award if they have concerns.
A party wall notice is not a request for permission. Your neighbour cannot use it to veto lawful notifiable work. They can only consent, or dissent and have the details settled by surveyors.
Do you need to serve a party wall notice?
You need to serve a party wall notice if you are in England or Wales and plan one of three kinds of work. These are building a new wall on or at the boundary, working on an existing party wall or party structure, or excavating within 3 or 6 metres of a neighbouring building to certain depths. The Act does not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Party wall matters sit apart from planning permission and Building Regulations. You can have full planning consent and signed-off Building Control drawings and still be in breach of the Party Wall Act. The reverse is also true: a Party Wall Award is no substitute for planning approval.
Most notifiable work comes from ordinary home improvements: loft conversions with steels built into the party wall, rear extensions with new foundations, basement digs and chimney breast removals. If you are unsure whether your project qualifies, this is a good point to speak to experienced party wall surveyors across Kent, London, Essex, Surrey and Sussex before your builder books a start date.
Who counts as an adjoining owner?
“Owner” has a wider meaning under Section 20 of the Act than most people expect. It includes:
- Freeholders of the neighbouring property
- Leaseholders holding a lease for more than a year (so a long-lease flat owner counts, but a tenant on a rolling monthly tenancy does not)
- Anyone who has contracted to buy an interest in the land
A converted Victorian house next door may therefore need three or four separate notices: one for the freeholder and one for each long leaseholder.
The three types of party wall notices
Party wall act notices come in three types, one for each category of work. The table below summarises them before we look at each in turn.
| Notice | Section of the Act | Typical works | Minimum notice | Lapses if unused? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line of junction notice | Section 1 | New wall built on or astride the boundary where there is no existing wall | 1 month | Footing rights run for 12 months from service |
| Party structure notice | Section 3 (for rights listed in Section 2) | Steels into a party wall, raising, underpinning, cutting away chimney breasts, repairs | 2 months | Yes, after 12 months |
| Notice of adjacent excavation | Section 6 | Foundations or excavation within 3m or 6m of a neighbour’s building | 1 month | Yes, after 12 months |
Section 1 notice: line of junction
A Section 1 notice applies when you want to build a new wall at the line of junction, which is the boundary line. It is used where the land is undeveloped, or has only a boundary wall that is not a party fence wall.
There are two versions. If you want the wall to straddle the boundary, your neighbour must consent in writing within 14 days. If they do not, you can only build wholly on your own land, at your own expense. If you plan to build wholly on your own land from the start, you still serve notice. This gives you the right, from one month to 12 months after service, to place projecting footings under your neighbour’s land where necessary. Compensation applies for any damage caused.
Section 3 notice: party structure
The party structure notice is the one most homeowners need, and the one most often mislabelled. The rights to work on a party wall are listed in Section 2 of the Act. They include cutting into the wall to take a beam, raising it, underpinning it and cutting away projections such as chimney breasts. The duty to serve notice before using those rights sits in Section 3. That is why you will see it called both a “Section 2 notice” and a “Section 3 notice”. Legally, the notice is served under Section 3.
Under Section 3, the notice must include the building owner’s name and address, the nature and particulars of the proposed work, and the date it will begin. If you propose special foundations, such as reinforced concrete, plans and sections must be attached. The notice must be served at least two months before work begins. It ceases to have effect if the work has not begun within 12 months, or is not pursued with due diligence.
Section 6 notice: adjacent excavation
A Section 6 notice covers excavation and foundations near a neighbouring building or structure. It applies in two situations:
- The 3-metre rule: you excavate within 3 metres of your neighbour’s building, to a depth lower than the bottom of their foundations.
- The 6-metre rule: you excavate within 6 metres, and your excavation would cut a line drawn downwards at 45 degrees from the bottom of their foundations.
Terraced and semi-detached houses from the Victorian and Edwardian periods often sit on shallow footings, so a modern extension foundation nearby can easily go deeper. A Section 6 notice must give at least one month’s warning. It must be accompanied by plans and sections showing the site and depth of the excavation, and say if you intend to underpin or strengthen the neighbour’s foundations. Like a Section 3 notice, it lapses if work has not begun within 12 months.
Which notice does your project need?
Many projects need more than one notice type, sometimes served on more than one neighbour.
| Project | Section 1 | Section 3 | Section 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loft conversion with steels into the party wall | ✓ | ||
| Single-storey rear extension, wall built on the boundary | ✓ | Often ✓ | |
| Single-storey rear extension set back from the boundary | Often ✓ | ||
| Basement excavation under a terraced house | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Removing a chimney breast from a party wall | ✓ | ||
| New garden wall on an open boundary | ✓ |
“Often” means it depends on your neighbour’s foundation depth and the distance between the two buildings, which is exactly what the 3m and 6m tests measure.
Party wall notice timelines, step by step
The statutory timelines only make sense when you see them in sequence. Here is how a Section 3 notice plays out, with the relevant section of the Act at each stage.
- Serve the notice. It must go out at least two months before your intended start date (Section 3). For Section 1 and Section 6 notices, the minimum is one month.
- The 14-day response window. It starts on the day the notice is served. The neighbour can consent, or dissent and appoint surveyors (Sections 5 and 6(7)).
- Deemed dissent. If there is no reply within 14 days, the neighbour is treated as having dissented, and a dispute is deemed to have arisen.
- The 10-day request. If a dissenting neighbour will not appoint a surveyor, you serve a written request. If they still have not appointed one within 10 days, you can appoint a surveyor on their behalf (Section 10(4)).
- Counter-notice. Within one month of a party structure notice, the neighbour can serve a counter-notice asking for additional work for their own benefit, such as deeper foundations (Section 4).
- Schedule of condition and Award. The surveyors record the neighbouring property’s condition and agree a Party Wall Award setting out how the work will be done.
- Appeal window. Either owner may appeal an Award to the county court within 14 days of it being served (Section 10(17)).
- Start work. Once the notice period has run and any Award is in place.
A worked example
Say you hand-deliver a Section 3 notice on Monday 2 November 2026 for a loft conversion.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Notice served by hand | 2 November 2026 |
| Last day of the 14-day response window | 15 November 2026 |
| Deemed dissent, if there is no reply | from 16 November 2026 |
| 10-day request served the same day | 16 November 2026 |
| You may appoint a surveyor on the neighbour’s behalf | from 26 November 2026 |
| Earliest start date the two-month notice allows | 2 January 2027 |
| Notice lapses if work has not begun | 2 November 2027 |
Two practical points follow. First, a silent neighbour can add three to four weeks before surveyors are even in place, so serve early. Second, do not serve too early either: a notice served 14 months before you are ready will have lapsed by the time your builder turns up. Allow a few days’ margin on every date rather than cutting it to the day.
What happens if a neighbour doesn’t respond to a party wall notice
If a neighbour does not respond to a Section 3 or Section 6 party wall notice within 14 days, they are deemed to have dissented and a dispute arises under the Act. That does not stop your project. It means the dispute must be settled by surveyors under Section 10 before the notified work starts.
In practice, silence leads to one of two routes:
- The neighbour appoints a surveyor after all. This is either an “agreed surveyor” acting for both owners or their own separate surveyor. The two surveyors then select a third surveyor, who is only called on if they cannot agree.
- The neighbour stays silent. You serve a formal 10-day request. When that expires, you appoint a surveyor to act for them under Section 10(4). That surveyor must act impartially, not as your representative.
Section 1 works differently. Silence on a notice to build astride the boundary is not treated as dissent in the same way. It simply means no consent was given, so the wall must be built wholly on your land.
Whichever route applies, the building owner usually pays the surveyors’ fees where the work is solely for their benefit, according to the GOV.UK party wall explanatory booklet.
How to serve a party wall notice
Serving a party wall notice properly comes down to four things: the right content, the right recipients, a valid method of service and a record that proves it.
1. Include the required details. At minimum, the notice needs:
- the building owner’s full name and address (every owner, if the property is jointly owned)
- the address of the building where the work will be done
- the section of the Act it is served under
- a clear description of the proposed work, with drawings where they help
- the intended start date, which must respect the minimum notice period
- plans and sections, for any Section 6 notice or special foundations
Including a reply form helps. It lets the neighbour tick consent, dissent with an agreed surveyor, or dissent with their own surveyor, and it makes a 14-day reply more likely.
2. Serve every adjoining owner. That means each freeholder and each leaseholder with more than a year left on their lease, on every affected side. Check HM Land Registry titles rather than relying on who you see coming and going.
3. Use a method Section 15 allows. You can:
- Deliver it in person to the owner.
- Post it to their usual or last-known residence or place of business in the UK.
- Email it, but only if the recipient has said they are willing to receive notices electronically and has given you an address to use. This option was added by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (Electronic Communications) Order 2016 from 6 April 2016.
- Serve a company by delivering or posting it to the secretary or clerk at the registered or principal office.
- Serve an owner you cannot identify by addressing the notice to “the owner” of the named premises and handing it to someone there. If nobody is present, fix it to a conspicuous part of the premises.
4. Keep proof of service. Record the date, time and method, and keep a copy of exactly what was served. With posted notices, service is generally treated as taking place when the letter would arrive in the ordinary course of post, not the day you post it. Build that into your 14-day and two-month counts.
Example party wall notice format
An example notice is the fastest way to see how the party wall details fit together on one or two pages. Our party wall notice template shows the format for each notice type, including:
- the heading identifying the section of the Act
- the building owner and adjoining owner blocks
- the description of works and the start-date wording
- the acknowledgement and reply form
We have kept the template on its own page so it is easy to download and update. One caution before you use it: a template gets the format right, but it cannot tell you which section applies, how deep your neighbour’s foundations are, or whether you have found every owner. Those are the points where DIY notices usually go wrong.
Common party wall notice mistakes
Most invalid notices fail for one of a handful of reasons, each traceable to a specific requirement of the Act:
- Serving the wrong notice type. Treating a basement dig as Section 3 alone misses the Section 6 notice it almost certainly also needs.
- Missing an owner. Serving only the occupier of a flat and forgetting the freeholder, or naming one joint owner but not the other.
- Too little notice. Naming a start date six weeks away on a Section 3 notice, when the minimum is two months.
- Letting it lapse. Section 3 and Section 6 notices expire after 12 months if work has not begun.
- No plans with a Section 6 notice. The Act requires plans and sections showing the site and depth of excavation.
- Starting early without written agreement. A neighbour can agree to an earlier start, but they are not obliged to, and it must be in writing.
- Emailing without consent. Electronic service is only valid if the recipient agreed to it first.
Getting any of these wrong usually means serving again and restarting the clock. That can push back a builder’s start date by a month or more.
How K&A serves party wall notices for you
Most building owners find this is the point where it makes sense to bring in a party wall surveyor. K&A Surveyors is a firm of RICS-regulated Chartered Building Surveyors, and we deal with party wall matters across Kent, London, Essex, Surrey and Sussex from our office in Dartford.
When we serve party wall notices on your behalf, we:
- confirm which notice types your drawings trigger, and on which neighbours
- identify every adjoining owner, including freeholders and long leaseholders
- prepare and serve the notices, with plans and a reply form where the Act requires them
- track the 14-day and 10-day deadlines, and handle the surveyor appointment if a neighbour dissents or stays silent
- prepare the schedule of condition and the Party Wall Award where one is needed
You can see this in practice in our Catford case study. It covered a dormer loft conversion and a single-storey rear extension. We served party wall notices on the adjoining owners, prepared schedules of condition of the neighbouring properties and produced the Party Wall Awards, alongside project management of the build.
If you would like us to check which notices your project needs, book a free consultation or call 01322 914058.
Party wall notice FAQs
What should a party wall notice contain?
A party wall notice should contain the building owner’s name and address and the address of the property being worked on. It should also state the section of the Act it is served under, describe the proposed work and give the intended start date. Section 6 notices, and notices proposing special foundations, must also include plans and sections.
How much does it cost to serve a party wall notice?
There are no set charges, and fees vary between surveyors. Cost depends on how many adjoining owners and notice types are involved, and whether neighbours consent or dissent. If a neighbour dissents, the building owner usually pays for the schedule of condition and the Award, including the neighbour’s surveyor.
Can a neighbour refuse a party wall notice?
A neighbour can’t block lawful notifiable work by refusing a party wall notice. They can consent or dissent. Dissent means surveyors settle how the work is done through a Party Wall Award. A neighbour can refuse an earlier start than the notice period allows, and can refuse consent to build astride the boundary.
What should I do if I receive a party wall notice?
Reply in writing within 14 days. You can consent, or dissent and either agree to one surveyor acting for both owners or appoint your own. The building owner normally pays the surveyor. If it’s a Section 3 notice, you also have one month to serve a counter-notice asking for extra work.
Can I serve a party wall notice myself?
Yes. The Act doesn’t require a surveyor to prepare or serve notices, and the GOV.UK booklet includes example wording. The risk lies in the detail: the wrong section, a missed leaseholder, a start date inside the notice period or a Section 6 notice without plans can invalidate it and restart your timeline.
How long is a party wall notice valid for?
A Section 3 party structure notice and a Section 6 excavation notice each cease to have effect if the work hasn’t begun within 12 months of service, or isn’t carried on with due diligence. A Section 1 notice gives rights to place footings for a period ending 12 months after service.
Need party wall advice before you start?
Party wall notices are simple on paper and unforgiving in practice. The right section, every owner, a valid start date and proof of service decide whether your build starts on time or waits another month. For the statutory text, see the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 on legislation.gov.uk.
If you would rather have a chartered surveyor handle it, book a free party wall consultation with K&A or call 01322 914058. We will confirm which notices you need and serve them on your behalf.