Received a Party Wall Notice? Here's Why It Costs You £0 — and Why the 14-Day Clock Matters
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 makes the building owner pay both surveyors' fees. Adjoining owners across Swindon, Bath, Oxford and Bristol pay nothing — but only if they respond inside 14 days.
A neighbour's builder has posted a party wall notice through your door. Before you panic about legal fees, read this: as the adjoining owner, in almost every case your cost is £0. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 was written to protect you, not to bill you.
Section 10 — the rule that makes it free
Section 10(13) of the Act makes the building owner responsible for the reasonable fees of both surveyors: theirs, and yours. That means when you appoint Party Wall Hub as your Adjoining Owner Surveyor, the invoice for our work goes to your neighbour — not to you. You still get the full protection: a photographic Schedule of Condition on your property, an independently drafted Award, and a written route to remedy if any damage occurs during the works.
The 14-day clock — this is where people slip
From the day the notice is served on you, a 14-day statutory response period begins. You have three options: 1. Consent in writing. Quick, but you give up the protection of a Schedule of Condition and an Award. Rarely the right call where structural work or excavation is involved. 2. Dissent and appoint your own surveyor. The building owner pays our reasonable fees — £0 to you. 3. Dissent and agree a single Agreed Surveyor jointly with your neighbour.
Do nothing for 14 days and the Act treats it as a deemed dispute. A surveyor is still appointed on your behalf — but without your input on who it is, and without the chance to raise your specific concerns early. Acting on day 2 gives you every option; acting on day 15 gives you almost none.
Why £0 doesn't mean corner-cutting
Because the building owner pays, the fee is set by the Act's test of what is reasonable. Party Wall Hub is FPWS and RPSA-registered, carries £1m professional indemnity, and produces the same Award and Schedule of Condition regardless of who is footing the bill. Our duty under the Act is impartial — we act for you, not for the person paying.
What we need from you
- A scan or photo of the notice you received
- Your address and contact details
- Any drawings your neighbour has shared
We'll respond within one working day, appoint on your behalf, inspect your property for the Schedule of Condition, and take the Award to signature. Across our patch — Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Oxford, Cheltenham, Reading, Newbury, Basingstoke — the whole process is done online with one site visit.
Act today
The 14-day clock is real, and it starts from service, not from the day you happen to open the envelope. If a notice has landed on your mat this week, treat it like a parking fine deadline — because in law, that's exactly what it is.
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60-second eligibility check. Tells you exactly which notices apply and the total fixed fee — before you commit to anything.