Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jul 16, 2015 4:38 pm Hi all, We have come across an issue with our rear neighbour. He has been pretty good to this point, offering to pay for 1/2 the fencing, and everything is quite civil at this point but he lives in an old building that he has converted to a residence/workshop, pretty much an oversized man cave from what I can gather. He has pipes that run from his building right across the length of the rear boundary line and onto our land. These pipes are not storm water pipes, and they were not marked on our contract of sale of land so I'm not sure what pipes they are but according to him if we remove them his "house" will flood. We need to put a fence up in accordance with the developers caveats plus we have children and a dog so the fence is must-have but are unable to erect one because of these pipes that shouldn't be there. He is trying to shift blame to the local council but the council has told us it has nothing to do with them, which I agree with. Where does this leave us? Does it sound like this is the neighbours responsibility to fix? Technically we can still put up a fence, and it would become his issue to sort out for his own house if it were to flood, like he claims, but I really don't want to enter into a war with a new neighbour if I can avoid and without first getting my facts straight.... Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 4Jul 16, 2015 9:42 pm Well since it appears not to be a legal point of discharge, find the ends and concrete them closed. Have your fence errected. He will soon find there is an issue he needs to attend to by discharging his storm water in an approved manner, not just direct the water to a neighbouring property.
I am not a very nice neighbour I suppose but I wouldn't be getting his storm water runoff. You will have to discharge your storm water in an approved manner. Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 6Jul 17, 2015 12:23 pm you could also try the water board/council they have regulations for this and could help convince him to tot he right thing Our Build Thread - JG king Memphis Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 7Jul 17, 2015 12:38 pm I actually had a similar issue 30 years ago when I bought a half acre to build on in Whittlesea except the discharge was the overflow of a septic tank. The Council assisted me with that issue because it was a health issue. I can see storm water being a different issue, but one that needs fixing none the less. Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 8Jul 17, 2015 1:13 pm It sure sounds like stormwater to me... I'm not sure with your council but with our local ones any runoff from a roofed area has to be directed to the councils kerb and gutter in the street or an approved water retention system ( like an absorption pit ). Anything else is illegal and you certainly can't disperse this water to a neighbouring property. Seepage from natural surfaces like lawns and gardens is a different matter. If it is sewerage then they will come down a lot harder on him as goody59 says because of the health aspect. Stewie Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 9Jul 17, 2015 3:45 pm I've taken some photos this afternoon that I will post tonight to show the boundary, pits and pipes. It will show a clearer picture of the problem. To me it doesn't look like it would even be legal anymore, not that I'm an expert though. I guess I'm just at a loss as to how the surveyors of the land, for the neighbours and the developers, could miss this? There are two significant sized pits (with the pipes joining them) on my land that shouldn't be there and were not on our contract of sale of land. We knew there was an easement there for sewerage but that is well below the ground and not an issue at all, these pipes have nothing to do with the easement. Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 10Jul 17, 2015 8:30 pm Below photos are taken from the rear boundary line of the property: You can see one of the tall boundary markers in the distance, to the left of the photo is the yellow bricked old workshop/house, to the right is our land (the grassy side). You can see one of the pits in the foreground which is clearly on our side of the boundary. It's for storm water but I'm just not sure why it runs into these pits. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is what is under the concrete cover Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This shows the PVC pipe connected to the neighbours downpipes Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 11Jul 17, 2015 8:51 pm Did your conveyancer do a title search prior to purchase? It appears that may not be a clear title but then again someone with more building knowledge should be able to comment not with those pictures posted. Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 13Jul 17, 2015 11:17 pm That concrete isn't part of a slab, it's just a path behind the building that can technically be dug up as well. It has been surveyed at least twice in recent years, most recently in March this year. You are right that some of the concrete is also past the boundary. The council say it is a civil matter nothing to do with them but for some reason the neighbour is blaming the council, he thinks they have stuffed up somehow. I'm just worried that this is going to go around in circles for god knows how long when I just want my fence up. It's frustrating as hell. Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 14Jul 17, 2015 11:23 pm GSP07R I can see that the slab is on your side aswell. is it was me i would ask him who done the work as it is really bad and needs to be fixed by him. Maybe contact the council aswell. The building was built in the 70's I think and was once a supermarket, a home improvement centre and most recently an election polling place before the current owner purchased it to convert to his residence and workshop. Our land was subdivided before our neighbour moved into that building so he doesn't really know a whole lot either. Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 15Jul 19, 2015 5:34 pm I'd be getting the neighbour to sort it out with the council. If he says it is a series of pipes that disperse to a council approved system then it basically has nothing to do with you despite the fact that it terminates on your property. It also sounds like the rear "mancave " is probably illegal or hasn't been approved as a habitable structure. Give him a timeframe of a couple of weeks to sort it out then tell him the fence is going up regardless. Stewie Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 16Jul 20, 2015 12:32 pm Like many you dont have your location listed. In SE Qld, there were no developmental requirements to have stormwater to gutter connections in the past.. Ie the houses just spread the water out onto the property itself. If your neighbours house was built back far enough in past times, he probably does not have to comply with today's rules, and there may not be a "legal point of discharge" for him. Nevertheless he cannot discharge water directly onto your land, it MUST discharge onto his first. Whether that has an adverse affect on your building plans, and whose liability it is to pay for any remedial action, would be interesting to see. Re: Fencing/pipe issues on boundary line 17Jul 20, 2015 1:02 pm Stewie D I'd be getting the neighbour to sort it out with the council. If he says it is a series of pipes that disperse to a council approved system then it basically has nothing to do with you despite the fact that it terminates on your property. It also sounds like the rear "mancave " is probably illegal or hasn't been approved as a habitable structure. Give him a timeframe of a couple of weeks to sort it out then tell him the fence is going up regardless. Stewie Yeah, that's what we want to do, but considering the council has already told us directly it has nothing to do with them I suspect it'll just sit there unless we put more pressure on the neighbour. I hope the neighbour can find a way to make it the councils issue because then something might actually happen sooner. If it does turn out the neighbour is responsible for the fix then it'll sit there for a while probably. qebtel Like many you dont have your location listed. In SE Qld, there were no developmental requirements to have stormwater to gutter connections in the past.. Ie the houses just spread the water out onto the property itself. If your neighbours house was built back far enough in past times, he probably does not have to comply with today's rules, and there may not be a "legal point of discharge" for him. Nevertheless he cannot discharge water directly onto your land, it MUST discharge onto his first. Whether that has an adverse affect on your building plans, and whose liability it is to pay for any remedial action, would be interesting to see. Luckily the house isn't close to the boundary line, we have a 1220sqm block, so it won't affect the build. It's just a fencing issue thankfully. I will update this thread with the outcome when I have one. Thanks all for your replies. In WA zero lot is actually zero lot. We build 10mm in from the boundary. My house and my neighbours house have garages that sit only 20mm apart. When I had our roof done… 3 7207 Hi everyone, Looking for some advise. We are about to build an above ground pool in our backyard. There is a private sewer line running under the pool at 1.6m… 0 12062 I am building in claymore NSW and this is shown in the building envelope plan. … 0 10466 |