Party Wall Surveyor London: Notices, Awards and Schedules of Condition

We provide party wall advice and surveying services under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 for residential and commercial property owners across London and the South East. Where proposed works affect a shared wall, structure or boundary, the Act sets out a formal process of notice, consent and, where required, a party wall award. We act as the building owner's surveyor, the adjoining owner's surveyor, or as the agreed surveyor, and we coordinate the party wall process with the structural design so that the notifiable elements of the works are properly identified and documented.

The Act applies to specific categories of work. Section 1 covers new walls built on or astride a boundary. Section 2 covers works to an existing party wall or party structure, including cutting into it, underpinning, inserting beams, raising it, or demolishing and rebuilding it. Section 6 covers excavation within 3 metres of a neighbouring property (and within 6 metres for some deeper foundations) where the work would lower or raise the ground or affect a neighbour's foundations.

Where any of these works are proposed, the correct notice must be served on the adjoining owner. We identify which sections of the Act apply to your project, prepare the notices, and manage the notice process on your behalf so that the statutory timelines are met and the construction programme is not delayed.

A schedule of condition is a written and photographic record of an adjoining property's condition before notifiable works begin. It protects both owners: the building owner against unjustified claims for pre-existing damage, and the adjoining owner against damage genuinely caused by the works. We prepare thorough, date-stamped schedules of condition that can be relied on if a dispute arises later, and we use the structural design to focus the record on the elements most likely to be affected.

Where an adjoining owner dissents to a notice, or fails to respond within the statutory period, the Act requires a party wall award to be agreed before the works proceed. The award sets out how the works are to be carried out, working hours, access arrangements, and the allocation of costs. We can be appointed as the agreed surveyor by both owners, or act as one of the two surveyors where each owner appoints separately. Either way, the award is produced to a consistent standard and reflects what will actually be built.

Party wall issues often arise from the structural design itself: a steel beam bearing onto a party wall, underpinning close to a boundary, or excavation for new foundations near a neighbour's footings. Because we hold structural and party wall expertise together, the notifiable elements of the structural design are identified early, notices are timed to suit the construction programme, and the award reflects the works as they will actually be carried out on site.

Civil engineering design (drainage, SuDS, retaining walls and external works) and planning application support are available alongside this service, so the below-ground and planning elements of your project can be coordinated with the structural and party wall process under a single appointment.