Party walls
Do you need a party wall agreement for roof work?
Roof work that touches a shared wall can bring in the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Below: when it applies, who serves notice, the time limits and objections.
The short answer
Only if the roof work affects a shared wall or the ground next to a neighbour's building; a re-cover that leaves the shared wall untouched does not call for one. Where the Act applies, the building owner, meaning you, serves the notice, and it is the owner's job to do so, not the roofer's. Notice for work to a party wall runs at least two months ahead. Ask your roofer early whether the job touches your neighbour's wall.
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When the Act reaches a roof job
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 gives a building owner certain rights over a shared wall and requires notice before they are used. It is the rights that matter for roof work. Section 2(2)(g) allows a building owner to cut away from a party wall, a party fence wall, an external wall or a boundary wall any footing or any projecting chimney breast, jamb or flue. Section 2(2)(j) allows cutting into an adjoining owner's wall in order to insert a flashing or other weather-proofing of a wall erected against it.
So the questions are practical ones. Does the job cut into a shared wall? Does it remove a chimney breast on the party wall? Does it put a new wall on the boundary or dig near the neighbour's foundations? A tile-for-tile re-cover that stays on your own slopes and leaves the shared wall alone does none of those: GOV.UK lists building at the boundary, work on a party wall and digging near a neighbour's foundations, not the fact that two houses are joined.
A roofer can tell you what the work will touch. The notice is the building owner's to serve, so it goes out from you and not from the roofer.
Notice periods and what to send
The notice has to reach the adjoining owner before the work starts, and the length depends on the kind of work.
| Type of work | Notice ahead of the start |
|---|---|
| Work to a party structure, for instance removing a chimney breast | At least two months |
| A new wall on the line of junction (section 1) | At least one month |
| Excavation near the neighbour's building (section 6) | At least one month |
Sending a notice does not always mean the roof job must wait the full period, so ask what is possible before you plan around it. Section 3 lets a building owner use a section 2 right with the adjoining owners' and occupiers' written consent. Dover District Council's party wall page also says the adjoining owner may agree to let works start earlier, which is the same idea in its own words.
The GOV.UK guidance on sending a notice, including what it should say and who gets a copy, is in party walls and building works which is worth reading before you write anything to a neighbour.
What happens when a neighbour objects or stays silent
Silence is not consent. GOV.UK says you cannot assume that no response means they agree to the works. Under section 5 of the Act, an owner who does not serve a notice of consent within 14 days beginning with the day the notice was served is deemed to have dissented, and a dispute is then deemed to have arisen.
That is the point at which a surveyor comes in. Section 10 says that where a dispute arises, or is deemed to have arisen, the parties appoint an agreed surveyor or one each. GOV.UK puts it plainly: you must appoint a surveyor if you and your neighbour cannot agree.
- No reply after 14 days counts as dissent, not agreement.
- An agreed surveyor, or one each, then settles the terms.
- Questions about party walls go to a party wall surveyor, not to building control.
A surveyor is needed only when there is dissent or no reply in that time. When the neighbour agrees in writing, there is nothing to dispute, and the roof job can proceed on the dates you have both accepted.
Questions to settle before the roofer starts
Because the building owner serves the notice, the work to settle is yours, and it is quickest done before the quote is signed. These steps keep it short.
- Ask whether the job cuts into a shared wall or removes a chimney breast on it.
- If it does, serve notice early enough to allow the two months, and keep a copy.
- Tell the neighbour what is planned in person as well, because the notice is a formal step but a conversation helps, and a neighbour who has heard it first is likelier to reply inside the 14 days.
- Ask your roofer to write the start window into the quote, so the notice and the work line up.
Party walls are separate from planning and Building Regulations. A chimney breast removal brings Building Regulations approval, according to the Planning Portal, and a party wall notice where the breast is on a shared wall; the two run side by side.
Back to roofing in Folkestone, or read about who is responsible for a shared roof and what a quote should include.
More questions
Can my neighbour stop me re-roofing my own house?
Not through the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, if the work does not touch the shared wall or excavate beside their building. The notice rules concern work to a party wall, a new boundary wall and certain excavation. A neighbour can dissent from a notice, which brings in surveyors, but that process is about the wall work described in it.
Does the roofer serve the party wall notice for me?
No. The building owner serves the notice on the adjoining owner, so the duty sits with you. A roofer can say whether the planned work touches a shared wall, and the survey report will say what we find. Questions on notices go to a party wall surveyor, not to your council's building control team.
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