First check service and the response date
Confirm that the notice went to the relevant owners, included the information required for that route and was served correctly. A deadline calculated from sending an incomplete document to the wrong person does not resolve those defects. The Act specifies both notice content and permitted methods of service. [4][2][5]
Keep the notice, attachments, evidence of service and any reply together. A tenant, managing agent and freeholder are not automatically interchangeable for this purpose; the statutory definition of an owner needs applying to the affected interests. [6]
Party structure and excavation notices
After a deemed dispute arises, use the section 10 appointment procedure. The owners may agree on one surveyor or appoint one each. Do not start the notified operation simply because the neighbour has remained silent. [7][8]
Section 10 provides a route where a party neglects to appoint a surveyor for 10 days after a written request to do so. Subject to the provision's requirements, the other party may make an appointment on their behalf. This is a separate written-request stage; it is not an automatic appointment made on the fourteenth day after the original notice. [7]
The appointed person performs a statutory role rather than acting as the silent owner's negotiator. The process does not entitle the building owner to decide the dispute personally or to appoint themselves as surveyor. [7][6]
A wall astride the boundary
Under section 1, written consent within 14 days is needed to proceed with the wall astride the boundary. Without that consent, the alternative provided by the Act is to build wholly on the building owner's land, at their own expense, subject to the applicable requirements. [3]
The neighbour's silence therefore cannot be treated as an agreement to surrender space for the proposed wall. Check whether revising the wall position also affects the architectural and foundation design. [3]
A wall wholly on your side
Section 1 also covers specified new walls at the line of junction which stand entirely on the building owner's land. The one-month notice requirement still applies, but the section does not impose the same automatic 14-day deemed-dispute mechanism used for party structure and excavation notices. [3]
An actual dispute under section 1 can still be referred to the statutory surveyors. Do not describe this route as requiring neither notice nor consideration of a genuine dispute. [3][7]
Avoid turning silence into a programme promise
The notice period, appointment procedure and resolution of disputed details are distinct matters. No response does not produce a guaranteed award date or an unrestricted right to start all building work. Ask the surveyor to confirm the position for each notified operation and retain the resulting documents with the project records. [7][8]