What Happens if My Neighbour Ignores a Party Wall Notice?
If you have served a Party Wall Notice and your neighbour does not respond, you should not assume that you are free to start work.
For Party Structure Notices under section 2 and excavation notices under section 6 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, failure to consent in writing within 14 days normally creates what is known as a “deemed dispute”.
The Party Wall dispute-resolution procedure must then be followed before the relevant work proceeds.
The position is different for some notices concerning new walls at the boundary, so identifying which notice has been served is important.
The short answer
For most Party Structure and excavation notices:
- a valid notice is served;
- the Adjoining Owner has 14 days to respond;
- if they do not consent within that period, a dispute is deemed to have arisen;
- they can then be formally requested to appoint a surveyor within 10 days;
- if they still fail to make an appointment, a surveyor can normally be appointed on their behalf under section 10(4) of the Act; and
- the surveyor or surveyors can then progress matters towards a Party Wall Award.
Ignoring a valid notice therefore does not indefinitely prevent the Building Owner from using the statutory process.
What responses can an Adjoining Owner give?
After receiving a relevant Party Wall Notice, an Adjoining Owner will normally have three broad choices:
- consent to the proposed work;
- dissent from the proposed work; or
- do nothing.
For Party Structure Notices and section 6 excavation notices, doing nothing for 14 days results in a deemed dispute.
The term “dissent” can sometimes sound confrontational, but it does not necessarily mean the neighbour objects to the extension or wants to stop it.
It simply means the statutory dispute-resolution procedure under section 10 is engaged.
What is a deemed dispute?
A deemed dispute arises because the Party Wall etc. Act treats a failure to give the required written consent as a dispute for the purpose of the statutory procedure.
For works to an existing party structure and qualifying excavation works, GOV.UK guidance confirms that where the Adjoining Owner does not respond within 14 days, a dispute is regarded as having arisen.
This allows the surveyor procedure to move forward without requiring an unresponsive neighbour to actively sign a dissent form.
What happens after the first 14 days?
Once a dispute has arisen, the owners need to appoint a surveyor or surveyors under section 10.
The owners can normally either:
- agree to appoint one Agreed Surveyor; or
- each appoint their own surveyor.
However, where an Adjoining Owner simply fails to respond, an important additional procedure applies.
A written request can be served requiring the Adjoining Owner to appoint a surveyor within 10 days.
If they still fail to do so, the Building Owner may appoint a surveyor on their behalf under section 10(4). RICS guidance confirms that, in this situation, an Agreed Surveyor cannot simply be imposed on the non-responsive owner.
Why is there another 10-day letter?
The purpose is to give the non-responsive owner a further opportunity to choose their own surveyor.
The Party Wall etc. Act does not allow a Building Owner simply to select both surveyors from the outset because their neighbour has ignored the original notice.
The statutory procedure must be followed.
Only after the appropriate written request has been made and the further period has expired can the appointment on behalf of the defaulting owner normally be made.
This distinction is important because errors in the appointment process can potentially affect the validity of the subsequent Award.
Who appoints the surveyor for the neighbour?
Where section 10(4) applies, the appointment is made on behalf of the defaulting owner.
The appointed surveyor does not become the Building Owner’s second surveyor.
Once appointed under the Act, Party Wall Surveyors have a statutory function in resolving the matters in dispute.
RICS guidance emphasises that a surveyor appointed under section 10 is carrying out a statutory role rather than simply acting as an advocate for the person whose appointment they hold.
The two appointed surveyors will also select a Third Surveyor.
They can then consider the matters properly arising from the proposed notifiable works and proceed towards an Award.
What is a Party Wall Award?
A Party Wall Award is the formal document made by the appointed surveyor or surveyors determining the matters in dispute that fall within their jurisdiction under the Act.
Depending on the project, it may deal with matters including:
- the work that can be carried out;
- the manner in which relevant work is undertaken;
- working hours or other appropriate working arrangements;
- temporary protection;
- sequencing;
- access where a statutory right exists;
- making good damage;
- drawings and method statements;
- safeguards for the Adjoining Owner’s property; and
- surveyors’ reasonable fees and other costs properly falling under the Act.
A Schedule of Condition of relevant parts of the Adjoining Owner’s property is also commonly attached to the Award.
The Award does not grant planning permission or Building Regulations approval and should not be confused with either process.
What if my neighbour refuses access for a Schedule of Condition?
A neighbour failing to engage with correspondence can make preparation of a Schedule of Condition difficult.
The statutory access provisions require careful application and are not a general right to enter a neighbour’s property whenever convenient.
Section 8 of the Act provides rights of entry in specified circumstances and generally requires at least 14 days’ notice, except in an emergency. Surveyors appointed under section 10 also have statutory access rights for the purpose for which they have been appointed, subject to the requirements of the Act.
Where internal access cannot reasonably be obtained, the surveyors will need to decide how best to proceed based on the particular circumstances.
A lack of access should therefore be dealt with properly rather than by assuming that the statutory process has failed.
Can I start work as soon as the 14 days expire?
Generally, no.
The expiry of the 14-day response period does not itself mean that a Building Owner can simply proceed with disputed section 2 or section 6 works.
Where a dispute has arisen, the statutory surveyor process must be dealt with and the relevant notice period must also have expired.
Party Structure Notices require at least two months’ notice and section 6 excavation notices require at least one month.
In practice, if a Party Wall Award is required, you should allow sufficient time for the surveyors to deal with the matter rather than programming construction to begin immediately after the minimum notice period.
Does the same rule apply to a Line of Junction Notice?
No.
This is an important exception.
The consequences of failing to respond to notices under section 1 concerning a new wall at the line of junction are different from the deemed-dispute provisions applying to Party Structure and excavation notices.
For example, where a Building Owner wishes to construct a new wall astride the boundary and the Adjoining Owner does not consent within 14 days, the Building Owner cannot force the new wall to be built astride the boundary. The wall will generally have to be constructed wholly on the Building Owner’s own land instead.
This is why the type of notice must be established before deciding what happens next.
What if my neighbour eventually responds?
Owners can continue to communicate throughout the process.
A delayed response does not necessarily mean that matters have to become adversarial.
In many cases, early contact from the surveyor can explain the proposed work and resolve concerns.
However, once statutory appointments have been made, those appointments cannot simply be withdrawn in the same way as an ordinary commercial instruction. Care should therefore be taken before appointments are made unnecessarily.
Good communication before and immediately after notices are served can often reduce delay and cost.
Who normally pays the Party Wall Surveyors’ fees?
There is no absolute rule that one owner must pay every cost in every Party Wall matter.
However, where the works are being carried out solely for the Building Owner’s benefit, the Building Owner commonly pays the reasonable costs associated with the statutory process, including the reasonable fees of the Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor.
The surveyors consider costs under the provisions of the Act and the circumstances of the particular matter.
An Adjoining Owner should therefore not assume they can appoint a surveyor on any fee basis and automatically pass every cost to the Building Owner.
Similarly, a Building Owner should budget realistically for Party Wall costs when planning a project.
Can ignoring the notice stop my extension completely?
Not usually.
For section 2 and section 6 matters, the legislation contains a mechanism specifically designed to prevent the process from being indefinitely frustrated by a failure to appoint a surveyor.
The section 10(4) procedure enables a surveyor to be appointed on behalf of an owner who fails to make their own appointment after the required request.
That does not mean the Building Owner should ignore the statutory procedure or simply begin work.
The correct process still needs to be followed.
Frequently asked questions
How long does my neighbour have to answer a Party Wall Notice?
For the common section 2 and section 6 procedures, the Adjoining Owner normally has 14 days to provide written consent before a dispute is deemed to have arisen.
What happens if they refuse to appoint a surveyor?
They can be formally requested to make an appointment within 10 days.
If they still fail or refuse to do so, the Act allows an appointment to be made on their behalf in appropriate circumstances.
Can I choose the cheapest surveyor for my neighbour?
The appointment should be made properly and with regard to the statutory purpose of the role.
Party Wall Surveyors must be capable of dealing competently with the dispute. Where you have reached the section 10(4) stage, professional advice should be obtained before making the appointment.
Can I appoint the same surveyor for both of us after my neighbour ignores the notice?
Not under the section 10(4) default procedure.
RICS guidance states that where the Adjoining Owner has failed to appoint following the statutory request, the Building Owner may appoint a surveyor on the Adjoining Owner’s behalf, but it is not possible simply to appoint an Agreed Surveyor in this way.
Should I speak to my neighbour before serving notice?
Usually, yes.
A Party Wall Notice should ideally not arrive completely unexpectedly.
Explaining the proposed works beforehand can help your neighbour understand why the notice is being served and can reduce concern when the formal document arrives.
Help when an Adjoining Owner does not respond
PJF Surveying LLP acts for Building Owners and Adjoining Owners throughout Essex and the South East.
If you have served Party Wall Notices and received no response, we can review the notices and service information, advise on the correct next stage and, where appropriate, progress the section 10 procedure.
We can also act as Building Owner’s Surveyor, Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor or Agreed Surveyor where the circumstances allow.
Correct procedure is particularly important once statutory time limits and surveyor appointments become involved, so advice should be obtained before simply progressing the building work.
Contact PJF Surveying to discuss your Party Wall matter.
Author: Peter Furness BSc (Hons), AssocRICS, MCIOB, MFPWS
PJF Surveying LLP – RICS regulated surveying practice
Last reviewed: October 2026
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