Party Wall Award | What It Covers and Who It Binds

A party wall award is the written decision of the surveyor or surveyors appointed to resolve a dispute under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. It records the state of the neighbouring property before work starts, sets out what may be built and how, imposes conditions on how and when the work is done, and decides who makes good any damage and who pays which costs. Once it is made and served, it binds both owners.

Key takeaway

The award is the document that makes the difference in a party wall dispute. It is not advice to the neighbour and it is not a summary of what was agreed — it is a binding instruction that the contractor builds to and the adjoining owner holds the building owner to. Surveyors are required to make their award within one month of the dispute being referred to them, unless a longer period is agreed.

We make awards as the agreed surveyor acting for both owners, and as the surveyor appointed by one side. The award is where a party wall case either runs smoothly or becomes a problem three months into the build, and most of the work of getting it right happens before it is written: identifying the right adjoining owners, recording the property properly, and describing the works precisely enough to be built.

What a party wall award covers

The contents of an award are decided by the surveyors, not negotiated between the owners. Both owners can make representations, and a sensible surveyor will hear both, but the document itself is a decision. In a typical London case it will deal with the following.

What may be built, and how

The works authorised, and the drawings they are authorised by reference to
The method of working, including any temporary works and propping
Working hours and days, and any restrictions on noisy operations
Protection of specific features — a particular cornice, a fireplace, a cellar
Monitoring where movement is a real risk, such as basement excavation

Condition, damage and money

The Schedule of Condition as the agreed record of the property before work
Who makes good any damage, and to what standard
The position on compensation for loss or damage under section 7(2)
Who pays which costs, and the surveyors' fees under section 11
The period within which the works are to be carried out and completed

Two features are worth understanding before an award is in place. First, the Schedule of Condition is not optional garnish — where it exists, it decides the causation question that every damage claim turns on. Second, the description of the works is what the contractor will actually build to. An award that is vague about depth, method or sequence is of little use to anyone when the excavation reaches the neighbour's footings.

Who makes the award

The Act provides three arrangements, and which one applies depends on what the owners decide — or fail to decide.

An agreed surveyor. Both owners use the same surveyor, who is appointed by the two of them and acts for both. This is the fastest and cheapest route and the one most London cases should be aiming for. It is possible because the appointment is statutory: the surveyor's duty is to see that the Act is complied with, which is what allows one person to act for two owners who want different things.
One surveyor for each owner. Where the owners appoint separately, the two surveyors act jointly to produce a single award. Each owner has their own representative, and the award is the product of the two surveyors rather than of one.
Two surveyors and a third. If the two surveyors cannot agree on a point, the Act provides for a third surveyor to be brought in to decide it. The two surveyors select the third, and there is a route to have one appointed if they cannot agree between themselves. This is the exception rather than the norm, but it exists so that a disagreement between professionals cannot deadlock a project.

Where a notice has been ignored, or a neighbour has dissented, the appointment usually follows automatically — a dispute is deemed to have arisen and the case moves to the surveyor stage. Our page on party wall notices sets out the 14-day window and what each response leads to.

How long does an award take?

The Act requires the surveyors to make their award within one month of the dispute being referred to them, unless a longer period is agreed. That default is short, and in practice the month is often extended by agreement — the extension is routine and usually arises from the work the award itself depends on rather than from delay.

The Schedule of Condition has to be carried out before the award can fix the baseline condition of the property. Where access has to be arranged with a neighbour, or a tenant in the adjoining property, that takes time.
Drawings and a method statement may not exist yet. An award describing basement work needs the structural drawings and the proposed sequence of temporary works in front of the surveyors.
Both owners make representations, and where owners are represented by their own surveyors, the two surveyors need to settle the terms between them.
A third surveyor may be needed on a point the two surveyors cannot agree.

What we tell clients is to budget the notice period and the award as part of the programme rather than as paperwork to be fitted around it. A party structure notice is two months before work can start; add the Schedule of Condition and the award, and a properly run case is measured in weeks, not days. Building that into the plan at the start is what prevents a stalled site.

Award, agreement, consent and licence — the words people use

Most confusion about party wall work comes from terminology rather than law. Clients ask about a "party wall agreement"; surveyors talk about awards, consents and licences. They are not the same thing.

A party wall agreement is not a statutory term. In practice people use it to mean either the award, or a written consent agreed between the two owners. If someone is offering you "a party wall agreement" for a few hundred pounds, it is worth asking which of the two they mean, because only one of them resolves a dispute.
Consent is what the adjoining owner gives in writing to the works. A consented case needs no surveyor and no award.
A licence is the document that records consent with conditions attached — a Schedule of Condition, working hours, protection for a feature, access for scaffolding. It is agreed between the owners rather than imposed by a surveyor, which makes it the natural route where the neighbours get on and the works are modest.
An award is the statutory route. It applies where the adjoining owner dissents, serves a counter-notice, or does not respond at all — and it carries the weight a licence does not, because it binds the owners and their successors.

The practical consequence is worth stating plainly. Where the relationship allows a licence, the case is quick and cheap. Where it does not — or where the neighbour simply goes quiet — the award is what keeps the project moving without a fortnight lost to an argument about a crack. And where an adjoining owner wants conditions enforced rather than agreed, dissent is the route that gets them, not a refusal that the Act does not provide for.

What an award is not

An award is a specific legal instrument, and treating it as something broader is a common and expensive mistake.

It is not planning permission. Planning consent and party wall consent are separate systems with separate decision-makers. An award does not legalise a scheme that planning has refused.
It is not building regulations approval. Structural calculations, means of escape and the rest are dealt with under the building regulations, not under the Act.
It is not a building contract. It constrains what the contractor may do; it does not replace the agreement between the owner and the builder.
It does not authorise work outside its scope. An award covers the works described in it. Change the design materially — a deeper dig, an extra storey, a different method — and the award needs revisiting. A building owner who departs from the award is in breach of it.
It is not the end of the surveyor's involvement. Compliance, inspection at completion and the making-good obligation all sit downstream of the award.

An award, or a surveyor's refusal to make one, can be challenged by appeal to the county court within 14 days. That is a real right, and it is also the reason to get the notice and the Schedule of Condition right at the start rather than to litigate at the end. The surveyors are required to make an award within one month of the dispute being referred to them, unless a longer period is agreed.

If you have received an award and want to understand what it commits you to, or you are a building owner whose case is heading that way, our guide to what happens when a neighbour ignores a notice is the practical companion to this page, and the full text of the Act is on this site.

What an award costs

Acting for the Building Owner, our award fee is £350 plus VAT per adjoining property. Where we act for the Adjoining Owner as agreed surveyor there is no additional charge. A separate award is required for each adjoining property, so a house with two neighbours on a shared wall needs two notices and two awards.

Because the neighbouring owner's side of a dispute is the building owner's cost, the practical all-in figure for a one-neighbour case — notice, Schedule of Condition and award — is £1,135 plus VAT. Basement and underpinning schemes are priced separately as a fixed package, because the scheduling and engineering input is much greater. The full schedule, including a worked example for a two-neighbour project, is on our party wall surveyor fees page.

Party wall awards — frequently asked questions

What is a party wall award?

A party wall award is the written decision of the surveyor or surveyors appointed to resolve a dispute under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. It sets out what work may be carried out, how and when it is to be done, the condition of the adjoining property beforehand, who is responsible for making good any damage, and who pays which costs. Once made and served, it binds both owners.

Is a party wall award legally binding?

Yes. An award binds the owners who are party to it and anyone who later acquires the property, so a buyer takes the property subject to an award already in place. A building owner who departs from the award is in breach of it. That is why the award is drafted as an instruction the contractor can build to rather than a summary of what was discussed.

How long does a party wall award take?

The Act requires surveyors to make their award within one month of the dispute being referred to them, unless a longer period is agreed. That month is often extended by agreement where a Schedule of Condition has to be carried out, further drawings are needed, or a third surveyor is brought in — those extensions are routine rather than a sign that something has gone wrong.

Can I appeal against a party wall award?

An award, or a surveyor's refusal to make one, can be challenged by appeal to the county court within 14 days. It is a genuine right, but it is a narrow one and it is expensive, which is why the notice and the Schedule of Condition matter so much at the start of a case. If you are considering an appeal, take legal advice before the 14 days run out.

Does a party wall award cover damage to my property?

Yes, and it is one of the most important things an award does. Section 7(2) of the Act puts the building owner under a duty to compensate the adjoining owner for loss or damage caused by work carried out under the Act, whether or not anyone was negligent. The Schedule of Condition taken before work starts is the baseline that decides whether a crack found afterwards was caused by the work.

Does a party wall award expire?

An award does not lapse in the way a planning permission does — it attaches to the property. Most awards fix the period within which the works are to be carried out and the date by which they are to be completed, and an award authorises the scheme described in it and nothing more. If the design changes materially, or the works are not started within the period the award sets, the award needs to be revisited rather than stretched.

Do I need a party wall award if my neighbour agrees?

No. If the adjoining owner consents in writing, there is no dispute and the Act does not require an award. Where the owners want conditions recorded — a Schedule of Condition, working hours, protection for a particular feature — those are usually set out in a written licence agreed between the two owners instead. An award is the mechanism that applies when there is dissent or when a neighbour does not respond.

Who pays for a party wall award?

In a dispute, the building owner carrying out the work is responsible for the reasonable fees of both sides' surveyors under section 11 of the Act, so the adjoining owner is not paying for their own representation in the normal case. Grey & Associates charge £350 plus VAT per adjoining property for an award acting for the Building Owner, and make no additional charge where we act for the Adjoining Owner as agreed surveyor.

Talk to a party wall surveyor about an award

Whether your case is heading towards an award and you want it dealt with properly, or an award has been served and you want to understand what it means, the first conversation is free.

Awards prepared and served as agreed surveyor or for one owner.
A fixed fee quoted for your case, before any work starts.
Awards drafted as an instruction the contractor can build to — not a summary.
Cover across South and West London, and Greater London within the M25.

Call 020 8150 3762 or email info@greyandassociates.co.uk.

Related: party wall surveyors in London, party wall notices, Schedule of Condition, our published fees, and basement and underpinning schemes. For the run-up to the award itself, our party wall notice timeline sets out the deadlines.

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