Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 21Aug 04, 2012 7:55 pm It sounds like you have a contour from the 1970s before the houses were build - is that right? If so, you should be able to determine the natural ground level pre construction from that plan. Get your surveyor to draft a current contour plan noting the boundary and the current ground level on each side. That way you will be able to show quite objectively that the retaining wall holds both your neighbours cut and your fill. Tender /1/12 Contract 14/6/12 Planning 12/10/12 Site 23/10/12 Piers 27/11/12 Slab 12/12/12 Frame 15/12/12 Trusses 17/1/13 Roof 24/1/13 Bricks 13/2/13 Plaster 1/3/13 Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 22Aug 05, 2012 6:16 am Her engineer said the wall is failing, we have two engineering opinions - one in writing that says the wall is fine for another 5 years and one from an engineer who looked at the wall in 2008 who said then that the wall would be fine for another 10 years. Unfortunately that engineer has passed away. The natural ground level would have been altered in 1981 when her house was built. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 23Aug 05, 2012 1:01 pm So, you have 2 engineers reports indicating the wall is good till 2017 and 2018 therefor I would refuse to repair especially at a cost of 45k. Her engineer says it's failing but doesnt mean you have to act now. She's possibly thinking of selling and wants to maximise at your expense and doesnt care about keeping the peace. Keep photographs of the wall today in case she does anything to deteriote it. Personally I would move before spending 45k on something that adds zero value to the property Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 24Aug 05, 2012 10:12 pm We recently went through something similar, ours ended up being decided by QCAT. They ruled that although the law states something about retaining walls are the responsibility of whoevers land it's holding up if it's part of a boundary than both parties are equally responsible. Our half of the bill was $25k!!! Nothing we could do about it unfortunately we fought hard and lost:( goodluck. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 25Aug 06, 2012 6:42 am Thank you very much for that information. As I have said, we are more than happy to contribute because it is our belief the wall is benefitting both parties - although it is on her land. Can we somehow reference your case for our case? I would be happy to give you an email address if you would be happy to send me your case number Whilst I feel for you, your case actually helps us - sorry not trying to sound unsympathetic. I just wish it was more simple, the law for retaining walls needs to be more clear so people know where they stand from the outset. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 26Aug 06, 2012 3:48 pm In relation to my post regarding the legal battle / cost... I saw this article today and thought of your thread - http://theage.domain.com.au/real-estate ... 23m5u.html See how ridiculous these types of situations can get? I return my 'people are idiots' theory. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 27Aug 06, 2012 6:15 pm tssupport1 although it is on her land. As far as I know the wall position doesnt matter and ownership is determined by % of who created the most need. Unless this is a secondary wall because additional landscape changes were made then the secondary wall must be on the side of the person making the changes. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 28Aug 06, 2012 11:01 pm Marto54 In relation to my post regarding the legal battle / cost... I saw this article today and thought of your thread - http://theage.domain.com.au/real-estate ... 23m5u.html See how ridiculous these types of situations can get? I return my 'people are idiots' theory. I could not agree more. "People are idiots" and sometimes even that is being very generous to them! Building in Blackwood Park 2012/13 Land settled 8/8/12 Contract signed 6/11/12 Encumbrance approval 24/12/12 Development Approval 24/4/13 Slab Poured 8/7/13 Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 29Aug 18, 2012 4:27 pm sorry to hijack the thread, but thought more appropriate than starting another one. We are about the demolish and build. The neighbour did the same thing to their property 10 years ago, in the process filling their block and putting a pine sleeper retaining wall that looks like it was designed by a 6 year old. The sleepers are simply stacked and pinned and nothing goes in to the ground to hold them in place. Consequently the sleepers and fence attached to top of them are falling over on to our property. We want to get this sorted before we demolish so they can't say we caused it. But who's responsibility is it - we are in NSW I think they should rectify the whole thing as quite clearly it was such a poor design and construction to begin with. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 30Aug 18, 2012 4:35 pm If it retains their fill only its their responsibility. Might be best to talk with the neighbour first......If no solution one thing you could do is contact the council and say you are concerned it will fall over and injure someone on your property and see if they will help.... otherwise its paying money out to lawyers. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 31Aug 18, 2012 5:06 pm Sorry animal I can't answer your question, your case seems to be a bit different to ours. Ours continues on, we have responded to the Show Cause notice from the council and pointed out the errors and inconsistencies in her engineer's report. When I spoke to the supervisor of the idiot from the council who came out to look at the wall and told him the wall isn't even on our land, he said council doesn't want to become involved so hopefully they will withdraw the show cause notice. Why should we have to repair something that is not even on our land, that's quite absurd. Depending on the height of your wall, it could be that your local council may have had to approve it. If that's the case and it wasn't done properly then surely they would have to fix it? Common sense I say. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 32Aug 18, 2012 9:18 pm tssupport1 Sorry can't use photobucket so we have probably come to the end of this discussion. considering the updated quote I received this week was $48K, she should accept our offer. Thanks for all your help. At that price I'd want them to pay part of it too! Come on give us a photo. That's got to be a he'll of a wall. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 33Aug 18, 2012 9:48 pm Would love to but I don't know how to, photo bucket was stupid, if you can suggest another way... Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 34Aug 20, 2012 9:53 am Jiminy , they don't come any easier than photobucket !
1) Have your picture on your desktop ready to go ( I'm using a Mac so it may be slightly different for you or you may store your picture somewhere else - either way have it easy to navigate to ). 2) Open an account with photobucket and log in or if you already have an account log in. 3) Once you have logged in click on the green upload button Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 4) Then click on the green button that says "Select photos and videos " Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 5) Navigate to your photo which in my case is a concrete block gif on my desktop, select the photo from the list then click "Open" Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 6) An upload bar will appear on your photobucket page and then a sign saying "Upload complete ". Click on the "view album" Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 7) Find the picture in your album and click on it Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 8 Once you have clicked on it, a drop down dialogue menu will appear. Click on the white IMG code box which will copy it to your clipboard. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Notice that the IMG code will change to say "copied " 9) Paste the code into your post here and you should get something like img your photo Picture6.png img ( brackets removed ) hit the submit button and your post with the picture(s) will appear. Stewie Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 35Aug 20, 2012 5:16 pm tssupport1 Why should we have to repair something that is not even on our land, that's quite absurd. Really need pictures to visualise this. The wall is not on your land but whose soil does it retain and who caused it to be retained? In my situation the wall is about 500mm on my land but totally retains the neighbours soil from backfilling, I say it belongs to him and he says it belongs to me. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 36Sep 12, 2012 11:24 am Here is a good common sense approach to retaining walls from Brian Ashworths ( bashwoth on these forums ) excellent site and pretty well sums up what most of us have been saying here ... http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=1878 Stewie Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 37Sep 12, 2012 11:40 am An update on our situation. After my submission to council in response to their Show Cause notice, they have dismissed her complaint and their Show Cause notice too. We have found a builder who is experienced in large retaining walls and he has provided another option (with engineering approval) that is half the price. So we are making one last offer to negotiate with her and if she doesn't agree then she can recommence her legal action - our solicitor says that between the application fee to file in court and a first up barrister's fee = $6,500 so she will be mad to go down that path. Thanks everyone for their input, if we get a result I will let you know. Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 38Sep 12, 2012 10:23 pm Good Luck, looks like you might get a positive outcome. Fingers crossed for you. Building in Blackwood Park 2012/13 Land settled 8/8/12 Contract signed 6/11/12 Encumbrance approval 24/12/12 Development Approval 24/4/13 Slab Poured 8/7/13 Re: Responsibility for retaining wall 39Sep 25, 2012 10:19 pm Put a time limit on the offer. Make sure you have kept written records of everything, requests for negotiation, quotes youve gotten offers made. If it does go to court, the council's position plus evidence of your attempts to resolve this outside the court, are likely to help you have the case dismissed. Its a spurious claim. the conduit would need to be undamaged regardless of what network is in play. The conduit needs to be able to have fibre run through it. NBN and Opticomm are just… 4 2868 Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5108 |