The Party Wall Act, and the two months nobody budgets for
Building near or on a boundary triggers notice periods that run to two months. They are the commonest reason a job with permission still cannot start.
Applies to England and Wales. Facts last checked 5 Aug 2026. Guides describe England; other UK nations run separate planning systems.
A separate regime again
A party wall agreement is not planning permission and not Building Regulations. It is a private matter between owners under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, the council has no part in it, and nothing on a planning register will tell you whether it has been dealt with.
It bites on ordinary domestic work: cutting into a shared wall to take a beam, building an extension up to the boundary, underpinning, and digging foundations near next door.
Three notices, three periods
Work to an existing party wall needs a party structure notice giving two months. Building a new wall at the line of junction needs at least one month. Excavating near a neighbouring building needs at least one month before the planned start.
Two months is the number that ruins programmes. A homeowner who gets permission in March and wants to start in April has not served notice, and by the time anyone realises, the slot in your diary has gone.
Silence is a dispute
The neighbour has fourteen days to consent in writing. If they say nothing, they are deemed to have dissented and a dispute is deemed to have arisen — silence is not agreement, and it is the outcome that costs money, because a dispute means surveyors and an award.
That is worth explaining to a customer early, because it is counter-intuitive. Most people assume no objection means they can proceed.
Where this leaves you
If you quote a boundary job, ask when notice was served. If the answer is a blank look, the earliest realistic start is two months after somebody writes a letter.
Tradecue cannot see any of this. Party wall notices are private correspondence and appear on no register we read, so an application that looks ready may still be two months from breaking ground.
Sources
- Party walls and building work (GOV.UK)
- The Party Wall etc. Act 1996: explanatory booklet (GOV.UK)
- Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 6
General explanation, not legal or planning advice. Anything that turns on the detail of a particular site is worth a free phone call to the council’s planning department. Something here wrong or out of date? Tell us.