Can my neighbour's builders come onto my land for party wall works?

Yes — but only in a narrow situation. Where works are being carried out under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, the building owner, their workmen and any appointed surveyor have a legal right to enter your land during usual working hours, for those works only. They must give you 14 days' written notice of entry, except in an emergency.

Can I refuse entry to party wall surveyors or builders?

Refusing is riskier than most people realise: knowingly refusing or obstructing someone entitled to enter under the Act is a criminal offence, dealt with in the magistrates' court and punishable by a fine. The key word is knowingly — an innocent refusal, where you didn't know they were entitled, is not an offence. If entry feels wrong, ask what work the entry is for and check it is covered by a notice.

Can they break into my property for party wall work?

Not at will. If premises are closed, the Act only allows fences or doors to be opened to gain entry when the building owner's side is accompanied by a police officer. And the entry right exists solely for works and functions under the Act — it is not a general licence to be on your land.

Can my neighbour come onto my land? Party wall access rights, explained

Last updated: 30 July 2026

Mostly no — your garden is yours. But where works are being done under the Party Wall Act, the law carves out one narrow, genuine right of entry: your neighbour's workmen and the surveyors can come onto your land, with notice, for those works only. Here's exactly how far that right goes, and where it stops.

What the Act actually allows

Section 8 gives the building owner — the neighbour doing the works — plus their workmen the right to enter and remain on your land during usual working hours, for the purpose of carrying out works under the Act. They may move furniture or fittings where necessary for that purpose. Surveyors appointed in the dispute process have the same right, for their own function. The classic real-world case: scaffolding on your side of the line so the shared wall can be worked on safely.

their scaffold, your side of the line — allowed, with notice, for Act works only

The three limits that protect you

1. Notice first. They must give you and anyone occupying the property 14 days' notice of the intention to enter. The one exception is an emergency, where the notice only has to be as much as is reasonably practicable.

2. Those works only. The right exists solely for works and functions under the Act — the government's guidance stresses "but only for those works". It is not a general licence to cross your land, store materials indefinitely, or access anything unrelated.

3. No forcing the door. If the premises are closed, fences or doors may only be opened to get in when the building owner's side is accompanied by a police officer. Nobody may simply let themselves in.

The refusal that's actually an offence

Here's the part that surprises people: knowingly refusing entry to someone entitled to it under the Act — or knowingly hindering or obstructing them — is a criminal offence, dealt with in the magistrates' court and punishable by a fine. The word doing the work is knowingly: the offence needs you to know, or have reasonable cause to believe, that they were entitled. An innocent "no, who are you?" is not a crime.

Do surveyors get access too?

Yes, and it's a separate right worth knowing about. A surveyor appointed or selected under the Act may enter and remain on land during usual working hours for the purpose of carrying out the job they were appointed to do — inspecting, recording condition, checking the works match the award.

The same notice protection applies: the building owner has to serve notice of the intended entry, 14 days in the ordinary case and as much as is reasonably practicable in an emergency. So a surveyor turning up unannounced is not exercising a right the Act gives them.

What if you consented — does anyone get access then?

This catches people out, and it cuts in your favour. The surveyor's entry right belongs to a surveyor appointed under the dispute procedure. If you consented to the notice, no surveyors were appointed at all — so there's nobody holding that right.

Practically that means a schedule of condition, or any inspection of your property, has to be agreed with you rather than required of you. Worth knowing before you refuse: agreeing to a dated record of your property before work starts is the single best protection you have if cracks appear later, and it costs you nothing. Consent doesn't waive your right to compensation for damage — but proving the damage is much easier with a "before".

What access does not include

The right is tied to work under the Act, and to nothing else. So it doesn't cover:

Work the Act doesn't govern. If the job isn't notifiable, there's no statutory access to go with it — a builder who wants to work from your side of the fence on ordinary work needs your permission, full stop.
Storing materials or parking on your land for convenience, unless that's genuinely part of executing the notified work.
Access at any hour. "Usual working hours" is a real limit, and an award will often say what those are for your job.
Anything after the works finish. The right exists for the work, and reasonable inspections connected with it — not indefinitely.

If what your neighbour actually needs is a scaffold on your land for work that isn't notifiable under the Act, that's a negotiation between the two of you, not an entitlement. Different area of law, and not one this site covers.

If you're the one building

The right of entry is real, but it's earned by doing the process properly — it exists for works in pursuance of the Act, which means notices served and responded to first. Serve nothing and you have no section 8 rights to stand on (and bigger problems). Serve properly, give the 14 days' entry notice, keep to working hours, and access for the scaffold stops being a neighbourly favour and becomes a right.

Not sure whether your project — or your neighbour's — falls under the Act at all? The free checker answers in about 90 seconds. Received the notice and weighing your response? Start here.