Party wall agreements, when a Cornish project needs one and how to avoid losing two months to it

01

When it applies

The legislation is triggered by particular categories of work rather than by the size of the project, so a small job can require notice while a larger one does not.

• Cutting into, raising or removing a shared wall, including inserting a beam into it
• Building a new wall on the line of junction between two properties
• Excavating within three metres of a neighbouring structure to a depth below its foundations
• Excavating within six metres where a line drawn at forty five degrees would meet the neighbour's foundation
• Loft conversions that bear on the party wall, which is most of them

02

Notices and timing

Notice must be served on the adjoining owner in advance, and the required period depends on the type of work. The neighbour can consent in writing, in which case the process ends quickly and cheaply, or dissent, in which case surveyors are appointed and an award is prepared. Building the notice period into the programme at the start turns it into a non event. Discovering it the week the builder wants to start does not.

03

The award and the schedule of condition

The award sets out what work is permitted, how and when it will be carried out, and how any damage will be dealt with. It is normally accompanied by a schedule of condition, a photographic record of the neighbour's property before work begins. That record protects both sides: it prevents disputes about pre existing cracks and it gives the neighbour genuine reassurance rather than a promise.

04

The human part

Almost every party wall dispute we see began as a surprise. A conversation and a set of drawings shown to the neighbour before the formal notice arrives converts a large proportion of potential dissents into written consents, which saves both parties surveyor fees and preserves a relationship that has to survive the build and the years after it.