What each one does
| System | What it controls | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Planning permission | Whether the building is acceptable: size, appearance, effect on neighbours' light and privacy | The local planning authority |
| Building regulations | Whether it is built safely: structure, fire, insulation, drainage, sound | Building control, from the council or a private approver |
| Party Wall Act | How work touching a shared wall, the boundary line or the foundations next door is carried out | The owners, or surveyors if they disagree |
Common questions
Does planning permission cover my neighbour's wall? No. It says the extension may be built; it gives no right to cut into a shared wall or dig beside a neighbour's foundations.
Does permitted development mean no party wall notice? No. Permitted development only removes the need for a planning application.
Does building control check party wall notices? Enforcing the Party Wall Act is not building control's job, although an inspector may ask about it.
Can my neighbour object to my design through the party wall process? No. Objections about appearance, size or light belong in planning.
The order to do things
- Settle the design and apply for planning permission, if it is needed.
- Serve party wall notices once the positions of walls, beams and foundations are clear, which can be while planning is being decided.
- Get building regulations approval for the detailed structural design.
- Start work once the notice periods have run and any award is in place.
Where they meet
The Act requires work done under it to comply with other legal requirements, so an award does not authorise anything building regulations forbid. And a surveyor will usually want to see the engineer's design that building control approves.
Common questions
My neighbour has planning permission. Can I still insist on a party wall award?
Yes, if the work is notifiable under the Act. Planning permission does not affect your rights under it.
Where this comes from in the Act
Links go to the official text of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 on legislation.gov.uk.