Party walls and boundaries
Why is a crack in a Scottish Home Report not an English party-wall award?
They are different documents from different systems. A Home Report comments on condition, and RICS says a purchaser can rely on it where that pack is the one in use. An award under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 belongs to the England and Wales procedure GOV.UK describes. The Home Report will not contain that award, and you should not demand one from a Scottish seller. A crack the surveyor saw is still a condition comment. Ask a Scottish solicitor what applies to work on a shared wall.
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?
GOV.UK’s party-wall pages describe notices for building on or at a boundary, work to a party wall or party structure, and excavation near a neighbour, with notice between two months and a year before the start. Those timings are not a reason to serve an English form on a Glasgow tenement because a Home Report mentioned a crack. Ownership and repair of a tenement are for a Scottish solicitor. This page does not invent a share of a stair repair and does not quote a fee for either process.
Keep the crack separate from who must pay. In England and Wales the payment question can involve the Act when certain work is proposed. In Scotland it does not become an English award by analogy. Northern Ireland is not covered by the GOV.UK party-wall guide either. Use a solicitor qualified where the building stands, and read the survey’s condition words wherever that is.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is this a Scottish Home Report, and is the crack only a condition comment?
- Are you being asked to produce an English award? That is not the surveyor’s job.
- Which shared-wall questions belong with a Scottish solicitor rather than in the report?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the crack paragraph as condition, not as a notice under the English Act.
- Instruct a solicitor in Scotland for how common repairs are arranged in that building.
- Do not download an English party-wall form for a Scottish or Northern Irish purchase.
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
Does the same mistake arise in Wales?
No. Wales is inside the England and Wales Act that GOV.UK describes. Scotland and Northern Ireland are the places not to copy the form.
Is the Home Report valuation an award?
No. The valuation sits in the Scottish pack. It is not a party-wall award and not a repair invoice.