What you control
- Your choice of surveyor, and whether to offer one agreed surveyor for both sides
- The information you supply. Clear structural drawings and method statements early on speed everything up
- Your builder's start date, which must follow the award
What you do not control
- Whether your neighbour accepts one agreed surveyor
- The neighbour's choice of surveyor
- What the surveyors decide is reasonable
If you have not yet served notice, our companion site About Party Wall Notices covers that stage.
Guides for building owners
- What's in a party wall agreement?The sections you will find in a typical party wall agreement, from the schedule of condition and drawings to working hours, access and costs.
- Agreed surveyor or two surveyors: which is better?The pros and cons of one agreed party wall surveyor versus each owner appointing their own, including cost, speed and impartiality.
- Party wall surveyor fees: what is reasonable?How party wall surveyors charge, what affects the fee, what counts as reasonable for the neighbour's surveyor and how fee disputes are settled.
- The schedule of condition and why it protects you tooWhat a party wall schedule of condition records, how it is carried out and why it protects building owners as well as neighbours.
- When can work start once the agreement is signed?When work can start after a party wall award is served, how the notice period and the 14-day appeal window fit together, and what to tell your builder.
- Security for expenses: when a neighbour asks for money up frontWhat security for expenses means under the Party Wall Act, when a neighbour can ask for it, how much it might be and how it is held.
- Changing your plans after the agreementWhat to do if your design changes after a party wall award has been served, from small amendments to new notices and addendum awards.
- Special foundations and the neighbour's consentReinforced footings under next door's land need written consent.
- Insurance for party wall work: what to checkThe cover your builder should hold, and the gaps to watch for.
- When a surveyor doesn't respond: the 10-day ruleTen-day requests, ex parte awards and replacements.
- The final inspection after the worksComparing the neighbour's home with the record taken before work.