Party Wall Act Key Terms

Party Wall key terms you may encounter

Party Wall Surveyor: these are appointed by the building owner or adjoining owner should a dispute arise. Any person can act as a Party Wall Surveyor, however, the building owner and the adjoining owner are not allowed to act for themselves.

The building owner and the adjoining owner/s can appoint separate surveyors or they can appoint one single chosen surveyor. If only the one surveyor is chosen this is often called the ‘agreed surveyor’.

Building owner: When referring to the building owner it is often the person/company who are intending to carry out the works.

Adjoining owner: The adjoining owner is the owner of the property next door to that of the building owner. An adjoining owner can also be a leaseholder who has a lease in excess of a year.

Adjoining occupier: The person who has occupancy of the adjoining property that does not qualify as an adjoining owner.

Line of Junction: the line of junction is commonly referred to as the boundary by many people. It is where the land of two adjoining properties meet.

Notices: The notice is served to the adjoining owner informing them of the works that are planned. Detailed in the notice is the name and address of the building owner, a description of the planned works and an approximate start date.

The Party Wall Act is not invoked unless the Notice is served on the adjoining owner.

Section One: This part of the Act concerns works which are planned to happen on the line of junction. These types of works must have a notice period of a minimum of one month prior to the intended start date.

Section Two: This refers to works that are planned to happen involving the party wall between properties. A minimum of two months’ notice must be made before the works are planned to start.

Section Six: This is when excavations are due to take place within certain distances of the adjoining property and are planned to be carried out to certain depths.