Party Wall Services. Handled by Professional Surveyors.
If a neighbour has served notice on you, LENIO acts as your Adjoining Owner Surveyor in London, protecting your property and your rights under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, usually at the Building Owner's expense. Every matter is handled personally by a Chartered Civil and Building Engineer (ICE and CABE).
LENIO acts for Adjoining Owners from notice to Award. When a neighbour’s building works may affect your property, you become the Adjoining Owner under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. An adjoining owner surveyor acts on your behalf and manages the formal process from that point.
Your surveyor reviews the notice you have received, explains your rights and options, and manages your formal response. Where dissent arises, they accept appointment and work to ensure the Party Wall Award properly protects your property.
In most cases, the Building Owner covers your surveyor’s reasonable fees as part of the process.
Who pays for my surveyor? Not you, in most cases.
Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, the Building Owner, the neighbour carrying out the works is normally responsible for the reasonable fees of the Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor. You did not ask for these works, so you should not have to pay to have your property protected from them.
Fees must be both reasonable and justifiable, and must relate to administering the matter under the Act. LENIO confirms the basis of charges in writing at the outset, so there are no surprises for anyone. There is no charge for your initial call with us.
You have 14 days from the date of service to respond. There are exactly three responses available to you under the Act, and each leads somewhere different.
You raise no objection and no surveyors are appointed. Your neighbour may proceed once the notice period expires, with no Party Wall Award in place.
Consent must be given in writing. We strongly recommend still obtaining a Schedule of Condition without one you have no agreed record of your property’s condition if damage appears later.
You appoint an adjoining owner surveyor who acts solely for you. They work alongside the Building Owner’s surveyor to agree a Party Wall Award.
This gives you independent representation and is the route most Adjoining Owners choose where the works are significant basements, underpinning or deep excavation.
Both you and your neighbour appoint a single impartial Agreed Surveyor who acts fairly for both sides and prepares the Award.
This is often quicker and cheaper for straightforward works, but you give up independent representation. It requires your explicit consent.
Whichever route you choose, you cannot use the Act to stop the works. It is enabling legislation — it exists to let reasonable works proceed while protecting your property. What you can do is make sure the conditions attached to those works are right.
Doing nothing does not pause the process, it removes your choices. This is the timeline that follows a Party Wall Notice.
You have 14 days from service to consent, dissent and appoint your own surveyor, or agree to an Agreed Surveyor. This is the point at which you have full control.
If you have not replied, a dispute is automatically deemed to have arisen even though you never objected. Surveyors must now be appointed.
The Building Owner serves a further request giving you 10 days to appoint a surveyor. If you still do not, they may appoint one on your behalf and you will not have chosen them.
The practical message is simple: reply within 14 days, even if only to say you are taking advice. Call LENIO and we will tell you where you stand the same day.
Your neighbour must serve you a Party Wall Notice before starting any of the following. If they have not, the Act has not been followed.
An adjoining owner surveyor manages every stage of the party wall process on your behalf. From reviewing the notice to post-award support, LENIO covers six key responsibilities at every instruction.
We review the Party Wall Notice you have received and confirm whether it is valid and correctly served. If it is defective, we advise on the correct next steps.
We explain what the proposed works mean for your property and set out your response options clearly. You understand your rights as an Adjoining Owner before making any formal response.
Where you dissent or are deemed to have dissented, we formally accept appointment as your Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor and represent your interests throughout the award process.
Before works begin, we carry out a Schedule of Condition survey of your property. This creates a detailed written and photographic record that protects you if damage is alleged.
We review the draft Party Wall Award to ensure it properly protects your property and interests. This includes the scope of works, access arrangements and required protective measures.
During the works, we remain available to advise on compliance with the Award. We respond to any concerns raised and inspect reported damage against the Schedule of Condition record.
We assess your neighbour’s project from the perspective of your property, not theirs. That review normally covers:
Where works are complex or the risk is significant deep basements, underpinning we may recommend engaging an advising engineer to scrutinise the method before the Award is agreed.
The Party Wall Award governs how the works are carried out. We make sure yours addresses:
An Award gives you stronger protection than common law: you are not liable for the cost of proving damage or having it put right.
As the Adjoining Owner, your property is directly affected by your neighbour’s proposed works. Having an adjoining owner surveyor manage this independently ensures your interests are represented throughout the process.
Without your own surveyor, you have no independent voice in the party wall process. An adjoining owner surveyor acts solely for you, ensuring the Party Wall Award includes adequate protection for your property.
The Party Wall Award sets the conditions under which your neighbour’s works may proceed. Your surveyor reviews and negotiates the Award to ensure it includes the protective measures and access conditions your property requires.
The earlier you appoint an adjoining owner surveyor, the more scope LENIO has to advise, protect your property and manage your response correctly. There are four key appointment stages.
As soon as you receive a Party Wall Notice, the 14-day response period begins. Appointing an adjoining owner surveyor before you reply protects your position from the outset.
Your response to the notice has formal consequences under the Act. An adjoining owner surveyor advises on whether to consent, dissent or serve a counter-notice before the deadline passes.
If you dissent or fail to respond within 14 days, the Act triggers the formal appointment process. LENIO can accept appointment as your Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor promptly and without delay.
Even if you consent to the notice, a Schedule of Condition is still advisable. LENIO carries this out before works begin and provides a written record of your property’s condition.
If your neighbour has begun notifiable works without serving a Party Wall Notice, they have not followed the Act. Surveyors cannot simply be appointed after the fact, because the Act was never properly engaged, the position often summarised as “no notice, no Act”.
That leaves you relying on your common law rights rather than the protections of the Act. In practice there are three routes, and which is right depends on how far the works have progressed and the risk to your property.
1. Ask them to stop and serve notice. Often the fastest resolution. Many Building Owners simply did not know the Act applied, and will pause and serve proper notice once told.
2. Apply for an injunction. The court can halt works until the Act is followed. This is a last resort, it can be expensive, though courts take a dim view of Building Owners ignoring their obligations, and costs are often recoverable.
3. Pursue a common law claim for damage. Available, but weaker than the Act: without an Award and Schedule of Condition, the burden of proving the damage falls on you.
If you think works next door should have been notified, speak to us before doing anything else. Acting early gives you far more options.
Speak with an adjoining owner surveyor in London before you respond to your notice. In one short call, LENIO can confirm your rights and explain exactly what happens next.
As your adjoining owner surveyor, LENIO protects your property and rights throughout the party wall process. From the initial notice review through to post-award support, we keep you informed at every stage.
We review the Party Wall Notice you have received and confirm whether it is valid and correctly served. If it is defective, we advise on the correct course of action before you respond.
We set out what the proposed works mean for your property and explain your response options in plain English. You understand your position as an Adjoining Owner before making any formal response to the notice.
Where you dissent or are deemed to have dissented, we formally accept appointment as your Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor without delay. We confirm the appointment in writing and progress toward the Party Wall Award.
We carry out a full Schedule of Condition survey of your property before works begin. This creates a detailed written and photographic record that forms the agreed baseline for any damage claim later.
We review the draft Party Wall Award to ensure it properly reflects your interests as the Adjoining Owner. This includes the scope of permitted works, access arrangements and all protective measures required during construction.
During the works, we remain available to advise on compliance with the Award. We respond to any concerns you raise, inspect reported damage and compare all findings against the Schedule of Condition record.
Once construction finishes, we re-inspect your property and check it against the original Schedule of Condition. Where damage has occurred, it is either repaired by the Building Owner’s contractor or settled by a payment in lieu so you can arrange your own repairs.
The party wall process has legal requirements at every stage. A notice you respond to incorrectly, or an Award that misses key protections, can leave your property exposed. For this reason, the quality of the adjoining owner surveyor acting for you shapes everything that follows.
In London, terraced houses, semi-detached homes and converted flats mean that shared walls and tight boundaries are the norm. In practice, works next door usually involve at least one notifiable element under the Act. Appointing an adjoining owner surveyor early protects your property and your rights.
LENIO is led by a Chartered Civil Engineer and Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), and a Chartered Building Engineer and Member of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE). A chartered surveyor leads every instruction personally.
Read the GOV.UK guidance for Adjoining Owners, see our full range of party wall services, or read our Adjoining Owner guidance.
LENIO acts as Adjoining Owner’s Surveyor across London, backed by two chartered professional memberships.
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
The Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE)We act for Adjoining Owners right across the capital, wherever the works next door happen to be.
If you have received a Party Wall Notice or are unsure about works already underway next door, the right starting point is a conversation. LENIO acts as adjoining owner surveyor for homeowners across London. There is no obligation.
