What the award can decide
Section 10 allows an award to determine the right to execute work, the time and manner of carrying it out, and other matters arising out of or incidental to the dispute. This includes the costs of making the award. Its authority is tied to matters within the Party Wall etc. Act, not every issue between the two properties. [1]
A project-specific award may incorporate the relevant drawings, requirements for protecting the adjoining property and arrangements for access or inspections. Government and RICS guidance explain that the purpose is to settle how qualifying work proceeds while protecting both owners' rights. [2][3]
Read the whole document and its attachments
Before work starts, check that you understand:
- which owners, properties and operations the award concerns;
- which drawing numbers and revisions it incorporates;
- what must happen before the affected work begins;
- the requirements governing the method, protection and access;
- the stated responsibility for surveyor costs and other determined expenses. [2][3]
Give the contractor the relevant requirements, not just the page showing the signatures. If the structural design or method changes, refer it back to the surveyor rather than assuming the award covers any later variation. The statutory determination concerns the work and dispute actually addressed. [1][3]
It is not another planning permission
An award does not replace planning consent, building regulations compliance or separate private rights. Nor does it automatically resolve a disputed boundary or extinguish a right of light. The Act expressly preserves easements of light and other easements. [4][2]
The award also does not automatically shorten the notice period. Section 10 requires the relevant statutory period to expire unless the owners agree otherwise. Check the actual start conditions rather than relying solely on the date the award was signed. [1]
The appeal deadline needs immediate attention
The 14-day period runs from service on the party, not from when they finish reading the document, receive a later invoice or complete a complaint to a professional body. The Act gives the county court power to rescind or modify the award and to make a costs order. [1]
An owner considering an appeal should send the award, service evidence, notices, appointments and relevant drawings to a solicitor promptly. A complaint about a surveyor's service is not the statutory appeal procedure and should not be allowed to consume the appeal period. [5][1]
Do not assume a disputed award can be ignored
Section 10 describes an award as conclusive, subject to its appeal provisions. Questions about whether the surveyors had jurisdiction can be legally complex: the Court of Appeal has addressed circumstances in which an award made without the necessary notice foundation was invalid. That is a reason to obtain specific advice, not to decide unilaterally that an inconvenient award has no effect. [1][6]