How do I invoke 'The Party Wall Act' ?

[BogwashBarry]

Mumsnetter here. I live in a semi. My immediate neighbour wants to build a 10ft deep rear extension & knock through the interior. I'm ok with all of this as my land is substantially higher than his so the top of his roof will be level with my garden wall but I want to make sure his works don't effect my house. Planning permission has been sought and I've just received notification. My neighbour hasn't been round to talk through what he wants to do (which would be a courtesy) and I believe I'm allowed to employ someone to act on my behalf at his expense. Is this correct? I suspect my neighbour may be trying to dodge the cost in not coming to see me. What do I need to do?

There is a useful booklet here

guidance booklet

The Act doesn't automatically apply - we've just been through this. If your neighbour is going out from the back of his house (kind of a standard extension) it won't be on the actual boundary between your properties, it will be very close to it (so say a brick's depth). If that's correct, then it depends on the depth of the foundations as to whether the Party Wall Act comes into force. Have a look at the booklet - if the foundations for the new extension don't do any deeper than the existing foundations of your property, then there is no need for the neighbour to serve the notice. The difficult part comes from the fact that you often don't know how deep the foundations go until you start digging (so we served one anyway).