Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Party Wall Online is a party wall surveying practice. All surveying work is carried out by or under the supervision of MRICS-qualified surveyors who are individually regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller.

For the purposes of this policy, "we", "us" and "our" refer to Party Wall Online. When we refer to "you", we mean any individual whose personal data we process.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data:

• Identity data: name, title • Contact data: email address, phone number, postal address • Property data: address of the property subject to party wall works • Financial data: bank details for refund purposes (we do not store card data) • Communications data: emails, letters, and other correspondence • Technical data: IP address, browser type, and usage data from our website

We do not collect special category data unless explicitly provided by you in the course of your instruction.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

• Provide party wall surveying services pursuant to our contract with you • Comply with our legal obligations under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and applicable law • Contact adjoining owners on your behalf as required by the Act • Manage our relationship with you, including complaints handling • Improve our website and services (using anonymised analytics data)

We will not use your data for marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data on the following legal bases:

• Contract: processing necessary to provide the services you have instructed us to carry out • Legal obligation: compliance with the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and applicable law • Legitimate interests: improving our services and maintaining records of completed instructions • Consent: where you have specifically consented to a use of your data (e.g. marketing)

5. Data Sharing

We share your personal data only where necessary:

• With adjoining owners, as required to serve party wall notices under the Act • With our professional indemnity insurers, where a claim or potential claim arises • With RICS, where a complaint has been raised against an individual surveyor regulated by them • With our technology providers (e.g. cloud storage, email), under data processing agreements

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data for a minimum of 6 years following the completion of an instruction, in accordance with professional indemnity insurance requirements. After this period, data is securely deleted or anonymised.

7. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

• Access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you • Rectification: to request correction of inaccurate data • Erasure: to request deletion, subject to our legal and regulatory obligations • Restriction: to request that we limit how we use your data • Portability: to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format • Objection: to object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@pwa.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

8. Cookies

Our website uses essential cookies to ensure it functions correctly. We use analytics cookies (with your consent) to understand how visitors use our site. You can manage your cookie preferences at any time via the cookie settings on our website.

9. Complaints

If you are concerned about how we handle your personal data, please contact us at hello@pwa.co.uk. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be published on this page. Material changes will be communicated to existing clients by email.