It’s more common than you might think. You serve a Party Wall Notice, you wait, and then nothing happens. No acknowledgement, no response, no phone call. After putting effort into getting the notice prepared and served correctly, the silence can feel frustrating and uncertain. The good news is that the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 anticipates exactly this situation and has a clear mechanism in place to deal with it.
Understanding Deemed Dissent
Once a notice has been served, the adjoining owner has 14 days to respond. During that window, they can either provide written consent, which allows works to proceed on the party wall without any further formal steps, or they can dissent in writing, which triggers the surveyor appointment process. If neither response is received within 14 days, the law treats the adjoining owner as having dissented. This is known as deemed dissent, and it’s an important concept to understand.
Deemed dissent doesn’t mean the project stops. It means the dispute resolution process built into the Act is now engaged. At that point, surveyors need to be appointed to produce a Party Wall Award before any notifiable work can begin on the party wall. The building owner cannot simply proceed because the neighbour didn’t reply. The failure to respond triggers a formal process, not a green light.
Appointing a Surveyor on Your Neighbour’s Behalf
Once deemed dissent is established, the building owner must appoint a party wall surveyor on their own behalf and formally invite the adjoining owner to appoint one as well. The invitation must be served in writing, and the adjoining owner then has a further 10 days to do so. If they still don’t respond or fail to appoint a surveyor, the building owner’s surveyor can appoint one on their behalf. This prevents a non-responsive neighbour from holding up a project indefinitely.
We’ve dealt with this scenario numerous times across Kent and London, and the practical experience is that a surveyor acting in the adjoining owner’s interest is often able to engage that person in the process in a way the building owner simply couldn’t. Sometimes people ignore notices because they don’t understand them, or they’re not sure what their rights are. A surveyor’s letter tends to prompt a response where a formal notice didn’t.
What Happens Next
From there, the two surveyors work together to agree and issue a Party Wall Award. The Award sets out the permitted works, the conditions attached to them, and any protective measures required. It is legally binding on both parties. For a fuller explanation of what a Party Wall Award contains and how it differs from the original notice, see Party Wall Notice vs. Party Wall Award: What’s the Difference?.
Something worth noting is that in all of this, the adjoining owner’s failure to engage doesn’t leave them without protection. The Award will still contain conditions designed to safeguard their property, and any damage caused by the works remains the building owner’s legal responsibility. The process is designed to be fair to both sides even when one side is unresponsive.
Keep a Paper Trail Throughout
The timeline is naturally extended when a neighbour fails to respond, since additional steps are required before the Award can be issued. For more detail on how these delays affect the overall project schedule, How Long Does the Party Wall Process Take? provides a full breakdown.
One thing we always advise clients is to keep thorough records throughout this process. Every notice, every letter, every date of service should be documented carefully. If a dispute ever reaches a point where legal action is considered, that paper trail becomes critically important. If you’re in this situation or you want to understand how to protect yourself before you even begin, our team is here to help. Visit our Party Wall Notices page to find out more.