Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 22, 2013 2:54 pm We are about to start building a new house with a garage on the boundary. As a result we need to remove some of the boundary fence and get permission to access our neighbours yard. We were aware that we needed to get permission from the owners but now we've been told that it's also our responsibility to physically remove the fence as well. Is this the norm? I'm just wondering how we're supposed to know which panels to remove? We're also not handymen so I'm worried how hard this will be. Beck Bought land: July 2012 Signed Tender: August 2012 Signed contract: September 2012 Council approved: December 2012 Build start: 20 February 2013 Re: Removing boundary fences 2Jan 22, 2013 4:12 pm Im assuming you are in SA, so get a free booklet called Fences and the Law from your local Council. It will explain the legal steps to be taken and notices you must serve on your neighbor to cover yourselves should things get messy later requiring Court intervention. Even though I get along well with my neighbor he realised we had to follow the letter of the law as he owns half the fence Apart from getting your neighbors permission you may need to erect temporary fencing to retain their kids and or animals. If you are incapable of removing the part-fence you could try a handyman in your local rag, once you have ascertained which section is to come down. I wouldn't leave it the builder who could pass it to the foundation subby who would more than likely wreck it. Arfur Re: Removing boundary fences 3Jan 22, 2013 6:02 pm I will be watching this thread as we are building extremely close to both side boundaries, which I assume (know) will have to be removed during construction. Hubby would like the fences re-erected when the house is at lock up stage, preventing neighbors from attaching things to our wall (such as clotheslines and plants). This is something that we are yet to look into our rights and responsibilities .... so much to think about when building Re: Removing boundary fences 4Jan 22, 2013 8:29 pm We actually were hoping the builders would take the fence down and put it back rather than us having to do it. We spoke to our neighbours tonight and they have agreed. Our builder has also been good in that the site Manager has offered to meet us and the neighbour at the block to discuss what is needed. In our area pretty much every house has the garage on the boundary and you are given a side as part of the encumbrance to prevent two houses touching. Agape if you are building on the boundary then the garage wall takes that part of the fence. It will be hard to put the whole fence back because it will no longer be align with the rest of the fencing. Beck Bought land: July 2012 Signed Tender: August 2012 Signed contract: September 2012 Council approved: December 2012 Build start: 20 February 2013 Re: Removing boundary fences 5Jan 23, 2013 8:59 am Beck, we have built as close to the boundary as we can but still being able to keep the fence - by memory I think we are 150mm off the fence line, this space is meant to allow for the upright posts of the fence (I could be wrong on the measurement). As our house will be hebel, the last thing we want is neighbours attaching anything to the walls and possibly damaging the Hebel. I am very conscious that having a fence so close to the wall may look strange - but Hubby seems determined that this is the best way to go???? Re: Removing boundary fences 6Jan 23, 2013 2:36 pm With a gap that small you probably won't even notice. Beck Bought land: July 2012 Signed Tender: August 2012 Signed contract: September 2012 Council approved: December 2012 Build start: 20 February 2013 Re: Removing boundary fences 7Jan 23, 2013 8:07 pm My neighbour built their house later than this one - if you look on google maps, my house is there with fence and their place is an empty block. They built their garage 'on the boundary' - in reality, there is a few cm from the fence to the bricks. Since it was before my time here, I am not sure if they took the fence down to do it or not but it doesn't look like it was taken down and replaced at this point. Land settled May '14. Building the PD Hoffman39: 5/11=site start, 13/11=slab pour, 26/11=frame complete, 10/12=roof on, 12/12=bricking started. Blog: http://jyndeira.net/blog/ Re: Removing boundary fences 8Jan 25, 2013 8:58 pm I may stand corrected but I thought there was a minimum distance a building had to be from a fence to stop the gap filling up with rubbish etc, and because it will be virtually impossible to clean out, a haven for vermin/breeding Arfur Re: Removing boundary fences 9Feb 20, 2013 10:54 pm Beck75, I'm interested in how this went for you. Did you end up removing and re-instating the fence yourself or did you get fencing contractors to do it? How many days was the section of fence missing from boundary and was your neighbour concerned about security and access to their property? I am about to start a build and builder is telling me the same as you've been told. They're saying about a metre of fence either side of neighbour's garage wall needs to be removed while my garage wall is being put up. Re: Removing boundary fences 10Mar 04, 2013 10:40 pm The fence came down a couple of weeks ago and will be staying down for a few months. It can't go back up until the bricks have gone up. We did remove the fence ourselves. Our site manager was able to meet us on site and show us which panels and posts need to be removed. It was pretty easy. The panels unscrewed and the posts that needed to be removed were angle-grinded at the base. Once the fence came down our builder erected temporary fencing around the entire block for security. Unfortunately it doesn't mean much in the way of privacy for our neighbours but luckily they both work all day so it's all over by the time they get home. It has actually been quiye easy the irony is following this we had issues with the other neighbours. As soon as they saw fences go up they sent us a letter asking for 50% of the cost of their boundary fence that was erected prior to us buying the block. We are not liable according to the Fence Act - it's between them and the previous owners. However upon investigation it turns out they have been trying to get the same money from the previuos owners for 2.5 years. There was a dispute about unecessary footings going in. So it turned out the neighbour thought he'd try it on with us. Beck Bought land: July 2012 Signed Tender: August 2012 Signed contract: September 2012 Council approved: December 2012 Build start: 20 February 2013 Hi all, Our boundary perimeter fences need replacing (3 sides). From everyone's experience, what would you install? Timber lapped and capped OR colorbond? Thank you. 0 2826 6 11122 The best advice is for you to get a competent building consultant to guide you through your build 7 4647 |