Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 27, 2013 2:30 pm Two storey place being built next door. Window in upstairs area has partial oversight of our backyard and also of neighbours yards. See photo link - Would this be considered acceptable? - located in WA Sould it be high set like the window on the side or fitted with opaque glass? http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc4 ... 70bb7f.jpg Re: Privacy Concern - Is this acceptable? 2Jan 27, 2013 4:13 pm The default answer is "yes"... But some new estates are not required to comply. Ask your local council. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Privacy Concern - Is this acceptable? 3Jan 28, 2013 1:14 pm Anyone who buys or builds a house in a residential suburb should be aware that their neighbours could potentially build a two storey house that will either block their view, shadow their house or overlook their private back yard. I don't see what the problem is. They will probably have curtains over it and will not be interested in spying on you. Stewie Re: Privacy Concern - Is this acceptable? 4Jan 28, 2013 3:04 pm We are currently building a two story house (only finished the slab recently though). Neighbours on both sides are building 1 story houses with same developer. When we got the final contract to sign (including signing off on all the drawings etc), they had sneakily changed some windows on upstairs floor. They had changed them to double hung windows (or whatever they are called) with the bottom half having some sort of privacy glass. This is not something we requested or even wanted, nor did we want to pay the $1000 upgrade cost, but we had no choice due to regulations and privacy concerns. I'm not sure what the regulations are exactly, but I assume it is likely that those windows are not approved. Although I would also assume that council would have picked up on it when approving the plans, so maybe it's fine after all. As other have said, I doubt the neighbours have any interest in spying on you, but it's definitely possible that you might be able to force them to change the windows if you really want to (ie you contact council or whoever it might be that would be in charge). This is in QLD btw. Re: Privacy Concern - Is this acceptable? 5Jan 28, 2013 5:13 pm Have done some measurements and checked WA regs. The window will only oversee about 15% of our yard and does not oversee any of our defined outdoor living area i.e. the alfresco so not a drama for us. People behind us though may get a bit cranky as the window is directly in line with their alfreso and given their block is slightly elevated they'll have full view of each other which is definitely in breach of WA regs. I'm not going to bother talking to council but I'm sure our rear neighbours will and I'm sure those windows will have to be changed. As for expecting that a double story could block views, sun or overlook yard - not entirely true. The WA and Australian standards specifically cover shadowing and privacy issues. So just because you build a two storey house it does not give you the right to block views and sun and overlook someone else's private property. Upper stories have to be set back further than lower storeys and their are requirements on windows. Whilst most normal people won't perve on their neighbours you can't guarantee it. Re: Privacy Concern - Is this acceptable? 6Jan 29, 2013 10:11 am Quote: The WA and Australian standards specifically cover shadowing and privacy issues. So just because you build a two storey house it does not give you the right to block views and sun and overlook someone else's private property. I didn't say that it gives you the right to do this, just pointing out that you may lose some view , you may have increased shadows on your backyard etc etc. It is part of living in the suburbs on small blocks where the average house is no more than 1800mm apart on the side boundaries. On level ground it is hard not to have some aspect of overlooking each others backyards from the windows on the second storey. Stewie Re: Privacy Concern - Is this acceptable? 7Feb 02, 2013 5:22 pm I think my council code is more concerned with living areas (ie. sitting rooms) with windows overlooking the neighbours. Bedroom windows less so. I would hate to have a bedroom window that I couldn't look out of. Re: Privacy Concern - Is this acceptable? 9Feb 02, 2013 6:55 pm In WA there are regs that must be observed and usually this mean opaque glass on the second story if it is on the side and below 1.6m. As Stewie says, no one is interested in what their neighbours do.... as long as you comply with cone of vision and obscure glass I am not sure why there is any issue. The overshadowing is taken care of by the set back rules in most cases. The rear facing windows can be bigger than the sides as the distance to the next block will be greater. In Perth blocks are getting smaller and smaller, my mother's house is on a larger size block and I think she has 6 different neighbours down one side alone, if we wanted we could see into most of them but to be honest no-one has the time and its not that interesting...... ciao i had the my concreters concrete right up to the fence. I have pits all along my path, so the water tends to drain away from the house and into the pits. There's only one… 7 12718 Hi guys We have just removed a very large grape vine which was mounted to a structure along this wall. This is a shared wall with our neighbour, and after removal, we… 0 3949 |