An explanatory guide to the Party Wall etc. Act 1996

3. What is a party wall?

The Act recognises two main types of party wall.

Party Wall type (a)

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A wall is a "party wall" if it stands astride the boundary of land belonging to two (or more) different owners.

Such a wall:

•  is part of one building (see diagram 1), or

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•  separates two (or more) buildings (see diagram 2), or

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•  consists of a “party fence wall” (see diagram 3).

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A wall is a “party fence wall” if it is not part of a building, and stands astride the boundary line between lands of different owners and is used to separate those lands (for example a garden wall). This does not include such things as wooden fences.

Party Wall type (b)

A wall is also a “party wall” if it stands wholly on one owner’s land, but is used by two (or more) owners to separate their buildings — see diagram 4.

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An example would be where one person has built the wall in the first place, and another has butted their building up against it without constructing their own wall.

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Only the part of the wall that does the separating is "party" – sections on either side or above are not "party".

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The Act also uses the expression "party structure". This is a wider term, which could be a wall or floor partition or other structure separating buildings or parts of buildings approached by separate staircases or entrances (for example, flats) — see diagram 5.