Most party wall disputes are procedural rather than structural. Somebody started work without serving a notice, or a notice was served on the wrong person, or the work has changed since the award. The Act deals with all three, and the remedies are quicker and cheaper than the arguments people usually have instead.
A neighbour started work without party wall agreement or notice
The Act's protections only exist once a notice is served, so the first step is to ask for one. Where work is already under way and damaging, the remedy is an injunction, which is a court application and is expensive. Most cases are resolved by the building owner serving a late notice and appointing surveyors.
Is there a retrospective party wall agreement?
There is no such thing as a retrospective award for work already completed, because an award authorises works. What can be done is to record the position, deal with any damage, and put the paperwork right for the remaining work. A surveyor will say plainly which of those is still possible.
A party wall dispute after works completed
Where an award exists, the surveyors retain jurisdiction over matters the award covers, including damage. Raise it with the appointed surveyor rather than with the builder, because the award is the mechanism you paid for.
Selling a house with no party wall agreement
A buyer's solicitor will ask about notifiable work and the answer becomes a warranty. Where no notice was served, the usual routes are an indemnity policy or a statutory declaration, both of which the conveyancer arranges. It is a paperwork problem at that stage rather than a structural one, and it is much cheaper to have served the notice.
Can neighbour refuse party wall agreement work, or only dissent?
They cannot stop lawful work and they can make it slower and dearer. A neighbour may consent, dissent, or say nothing for fourteen days, which counts as dissent; on dissent the surveyors are appointed and the award follows, and the award can regulate the hours, the access and the method but not forbid work the Act permits. What a neighbour CAN do is challenge the notice itself if the work is outside the Act, appeal the award to the county court within fourteen days, or seek an injunction where work has started without notice. Which is why the notice, served properly and early, is the whole of the defence.
Questions people ask about party wall disputes
Can my neighbour refuse a party wall agreement?
They can dissent, which does not stop the work. It moves the process to surveyors and an award. What a neighbour cannot do is veto notifiable work that the Act permits.
Who pays when there is a party wall dispute?
The award decides costs. In most cases the building owner pays the reasonable fees of both surveyors, since the works are for their benefit, though a surveyor can allocate costs differently where one side has caused unnecessary expense.
What if my neighbour removed a chimney breast without telling me?
Removing a chimney breast from a party wall is notifiable work. If it has already happened, the immediate questions are whether the remaining breast is supported and whether your side has been affected, and both are for a surveyor to inspect quickly.
What can I do about a neighbour removing chimney breast without party wall agreement?
Ask for a notice first, because the Act's protections only start once one is served, and a surveyor's letter setting out that the work is notifiable often produces one. Where the work is under way and causing damage, the remedy is an injunction, which is urgent and expensive and therefore a last resort. Where it is finished, there is no retrospective award, so what is left is recording the position, dealing with the damage as a civil matter, and keeping the evidence, because the next buyer's solicitor will ask.
Who resolves a party wall agreement dispute once an award exists?
The appointed surveyors, not the builder and not the courts in the first instance. An award gives the surveyors continuing jurisdiction over the matters it covers, damage included, so the right move is to write to the appointed surveyor rather than to argue on site. There is a right of appeal to the county court within fourteen days of an award being served, and it is a narrow window for a specific purpose rather than a general route to reopen the question.