Party Wall Surveyor Fulham

Fulham basement proposals sit inside an unusually explicit planning framework. Policy DC11 controls the size and relationship to neighbouring boundaries; an Article 4 direction removes a specified permitted-development route; and the adopted plan requires an engineer’s construction method statement to be supplied with the application and made available to neighbours. None of those steps answers the separate statutory notice questions.

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The adopted rule is Policy DC11

The council’s current Local Plan page records the adopted plan and links its adoption statement. The Hammersmith and Fulham Local Plan was adopted on 28 February 2018. The relevant controls are in Policy DC11 and paragraph 12.66 of the plan linked there, not in a generic London basement rule.

For a basement extending into or under a garden, DC11 applies two different 50% measurements:

it must not project further than 50% of the depth of the host building, measured from the principal rear elevation; and
it must not project further than 50% of the depth of the garden.

Both tests have to be addressed. The policy also requires a basement outside the host building footprint to be set back from neighbouring property boundaries, ordinarily limits basement development to one storey, and requires at least one metre of soil over any part beneath a garden. A drawing that labels the retained garden percentage but omits the principal rear elevation, boundary relationship or soil build-up has not shown all the relevant criteria.

The wider borough context is available through the Party Wall surveyors for Hammersmith and Fulham properties page and the Party Wall surveyor London guide. This page keeps its focus on the Fulham planning details that should accompany a local brief.

The engineer’s CMS should reach neighbours at planning stage

Policy DC11 requires a Construction Method Statement, prepared by a qualified structural or civil engineer, with every basement planning application. Paragraph 12.66 then says the statement is to be made available at the same time to neighbouring owners. That gives a neighbour a planning-stage document to request and examine, potentially before the civil notice timetable starts.

The CMS should not be overstated. Submission does not mean the council has approved or warranted the temporary works, excavation sequence or effect on the adjoining property. Availability to a neighbour is not that neighbour’s consent. It neither serves a notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 nor creates an award, a right of access or permission to enter somebody else’s land.

For quote comparison, identify the document by author, qualification, date and revision. Ask whether the proposed Party Wall scope includes reviewing it against the structural drawings and notice plans. A planning CMS and an award can inform one another, but they arise from different legal processes.

The basement Article 4 direction has exact dates and scope

The council’s current Article 4 Directions page records a direction made on 25 April 2017, confirmed on 16 April 2018 and effective from 26 April 2018. It withdraws the specified permitted-development right for enlargement, improvement or alteration by way of basement development, lightwells or other development below a dwellinghouse or its curtilage.

“Borough-wide” still needs its published qualification: the direction excludes the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation area. The exclusion is in the north of the borough rather than the Fulham neighbourhoods covered here, but it is important when describing the legal instrument accurately. A requirement to apply for planning permission does not by itself establish that permission will be granted, or that the Party Wall Act applies.

Fulham contains several conservation areas, not one

The council’s current conservation areas directory identifies separate designations across Fulham, including Bishops Park, Hurlingham, Parson’s Green, Fulham Park Gardens, Walham Green, Central Fulham, Moore Park, Sands End, Fulham Reach and Putney Bridge.

Use the precise address and current map rather than an estate-agent neighbourhood label. A conservation designation can affect the planning assessment of a lightwell, front garden, railings, tree work or visible alteration, but it is not evidence that a shared structure or neighbouring foundation engages the 1996 Act.

Check each statutory trigger independently

The Party Wall surveyor guide explains the statutory roles. The party wall notice guide sets out the documents and response routes. For a Fulham project, apply the actual tests rather than treating “basement”, “extension” or “conservation area” as a substitute:

Section 1: a proposed new wall on or at the line of junction can require notice at least one month before the work described in it. An adjoining owner may refuse consent for a new wall astride their land. That does not prevent the building owner using the statutory route to build wholly on their own land up to the boundary.
Sections 2 and 3: specified work directly to a party wall or party structure can engage the rights and notice process. Notice is ordinarily required at least two months before starting. Whether the project is called a loft, rear extension or refurbishment is not the test; the work to the shared structure is.
Section 6(1): excavation must be within three metres and below the bottom of the foundations of the adjoining building or structure. Proximity without the depth condition does not satisfy this trigger.
Section 6(2): within six metres, the question is whether any part of the proposed excavation would meet a plane drawn downwards in the direction of the building owner’s excavation at 45 degrees from the intersection of the external face of the adjoining building or structure with the level of the bottom of its foundations. The section 6 notice period is at least one month.

Planning permission, the Article 4 direction, DC11 compliance and circulation of a CMS do not replace notice or agreement under the Act. Equally, written consent or an award under the Act does not confer planning permission.

Make every quote answer the same brief

Provide the full address, planning and conservation status, existing and proposed floor plans, a section through the excavation, measured distance to the adjoining structures, known foundation information, and drawings for any work to shared walls or floors. Add the CMS, its appendices and revisions, planning decision or current application reference, notices and responses already exchanged, ownership details and intended start date.

Unknown foundation depth should remain an identified uncertainty. It should not be converted into an automatic three-metre notice claim. The Party Wall surveyor cost guide explains why drawings, stage of work, number of adjoining owners, inspections, schedules, award work and later visits can change the quoted scope.

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Sources checked

The Local Plan, adoption, Article 4 and conservation statements were checked against the linked Hammersmith and Fulham council documents on 24 August 2026. The notice tests were checked against sections 1 to 3 and section 6 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Confirm current policy status, mapping and application requirements for the exact address before relying on them.