Party walls and boundaries
The neighbour's extension drawings mention piling, and this house has a new crack. Has the survey decided the piling caused it?
The neighbour's extension drawings that mention piling have not led the survey to decide that the piling caused this house's new crack. Drawings are a design note about next door. A new crack is a condition note about this house. The visit did not watch the piling, did not measure a vibration, and did not attribute a cause. Party-wall papers, if they exist, are for the solicitor. The survey cannot turn a mention of piling into a finding of damage.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Piling can be relevant background, which is why you keep the drawings. Background is not causation. The crack needs its own description: where it is, whether it is new, and what else in this house moves with it. None of that is settled by a note on someone else's sheet. The survey should say it has not decided the cause.
Give the solicitor the drawings and the crack comment side by side, and ask them what the party-wall record actually contains. Do not tell a lender the neighbour's piling damaged this house. A tell-tale, if one is fitted later, would still need time to measure a rate. This visit has not done that, and it has not invented one.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see the piling, or only a mention of it on the neighbour's drawings?
- Have you decided a cause for the new crack, or have you left the cause open?
- Which words in your report should sit beside those drawings?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not state that the neighbour's piling caused this crack.
- Give the solicitor both the drawings and the crack comment.
- Describe the crack on its own facts, without a cause the visit did not establish.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the crack appeared during the neighbour's work, is the cause decided?
No. A timing story, even a careful one, is not the survey deciding that piling caused the crack. Cause is still unproved.
Can the survey serve a party-wall notice?
No. Notices and the neighbour's papers sit with the solicitor. The survey records the condition it saw. It does not create the legal step.