Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 05, 2014 11:31 pm Hi there Cross-posting here and in Landscape for more views... Could we please have opinions on whether we should have to pay half of the cost of a retaining wall along our boundary with our neighbours. We want to live here happily for many, many years so we don't want to cause unnecessary friction! The first two pics show the retaining wall we put up during our build. Our retaining wall is inset from the boundary by half a metre to allow for plants to disguise a future fence rather than have a wall of concrete sleepers/fence. Note the flat level above our retaining wall following the natural contour of the slope. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our neighbours commenced building a year or so later, with the preparation of their site resulting in a new "level" that now needs to be retained. Run off issues are sometimes the result of a solid day of rain but this will be solved once proper drainage and paving is in place on their side. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Do you think responsibility of retaining the soil ****** with our neighbours? Or do they have every right to ask for half of the proposed retaining wall? It will be less than 900mm and so doesn't require council approval (we would assume - or does this extra height, although inset half a metre from our existing retaining wall, effectively make it 900mm+?) We can't state strongly enough that we want to go about this as amicably as possible so any advice would be very much appreciated! Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 2Apr 06, 2014 6:52 am for being neighbourly you could pay half. but talk to them as you have already added retaining wall i have similar issue but my nieghbour has been great i had retaining wall put in when i built as well as fencing they came and asked about taking down fence and wall then paying to flatten land so both properties on same level. as i already had the retaining wall and fence the neighbours are paying for all the extra work including new fence Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 3Apr 06, 2014 6:54 am That's an interesting situation. Basically you have done the right thing in building a retaining wall to ensure their land doesn't fall into your 'cut'. They are responsible for retaining their fill. The complicated bit is that any wall they build on the boundary will increase the load on your wall (see the following link for more info: http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/05/und ... ing-walls/) so the total effective height of wall will be increased. Unless the walls are separated by a couple of metres you really need an engineer to check the adequacy of your wall for the extra load. 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: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 4Apr 06, 2014 7:19 am I think you have a good answer from bashworth but I have another point to make. You need to do something about foundation flooding immediately or else it may become a bigger headache for you. Why are surface levels sloping toward the dwelling? Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 5Apr 06, 2014 9:32 am Thanks for your replies. Much appreciated! 1rocky - yes we aim to be neighbourly but during the long slog of building, sometimes you try to save every penny possible! bashworth - you raise a very interesting point that we'll need to consider. Thanks for that link. building-expert - the flooding has been addressed. We upgraded the drainage system behind our wall and we installed multiple sump drains between the wall and pavers. Now when it rains we don't wonder whether to call the SES to sandbag that side (as we have done in the past!). Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 6Jun 03, 2014 7:22 am They have to retain the soil on their property by correct batter or their own retaining wall. Little understood area of the NCC. Assume you have a drain behind your wall? Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 7Jun 03, 2014 7:10 pm Hi Roar I am in SA, this link is how it would be treated here. As others have said, you retain your cut, they retain their fill. http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch31s04.php Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 8Jun 03, 2014 8:56 pm Agree with last poster. Our law is pretty simple really. We had issues with a neighbour who refused to pay for any retaining because his cut was less than our fill. By law he is responsible for the share of alterations he made from the natural lay of land as we are for ours. We were not going to worry about it and wear the costs (even though his share calculated to around $2k). It was just really important to us that we didn't want to be dug down into a hole. But then he tried to recoup half of fencing costs at professional rates. We knew he was installing the fence himself. He forgot he'd told us months earlier he'd do the fence and could get really cheap fencing material And we saw him doing his other boundary fences. He's real hard to talk to. He's a real hot head bully. Every time we've met him out at our block we'd leave with our hairs standing on end and all panicky. Terrible! He started sending us threatening emails over the fence. Said he was going to take legal action. I didn't think he was serious, kept trying to rationalise but in the end I just told him to do it and we'd make a counter claim. (He's really a horrible man.) He never responded and then suddenly the fence is up. Thank goodness he doesn't live there, rents it out. I bet your neighbour is reasonable though and takes responsibility for his fill and extra load (as per the SA link). Hopefully you'll catch up with him and he puts you at ease. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 9Jun 03, 2014 11:47 pm Hi everyone! Thanks for your responses. Your advice was reassuring as we stood our ground and said we refused to pay to retain what was their responsibility. And it worked! I think they were gobsmacked as we are 'nice' neighbours. We realised that they were trying it on to see if we'd go halves. Admittedly they did retain two sleepers less than we'd originally discussed AND in timber... Council has advised that we put it in writing that this is not satisfactory so as to cover ourselves further down the track if we have issues (or WHEN the timber rots). Since then we've chatted with them and tried to put it all behind us. A fence is going up this month which means we're pretty close to our house being complete! (YES!). Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 10Jun 04, 2014 7:32 am Depends on circumstances - but you need to stand up for yourself from the start imo. Anyone who threatened me with legal action - I'd tell them to go ahead. But - you just try to be fair. My new neighbour is a bit that way. States what he "will" do without even asking what I think. I think they feel "tough/strong" doing this. Generally if you stand up to the "bully" they back down - they make all sorts of threats and it may not be nice - but you can't have them riding rough-shod over you for the next 20 years. One question I have to BW and BE. If I have my pool in - and obviously my pool fence - which is the dividing fence. This fence was already part of the block - ie supplied by developer. We all have to have a certain fence at the back. Can he build a deck to that fence - which in effect negates my (his) fence - ie it makes it below the required height from his side ? There is no need to do this but he is currently talking (stating) that he intends doing this. I can't see how he can - as the fence is there and approved and it will be him who breaches it. Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 11Jun 04, 2014 8:04 am Saint Mike Depends on circumstances - but you need to stand up for yourself from the start imo. Anyone who threatened me with legal action - I'd tell them to go ahead. But - you just try to be fair. My new neighbour is a bit that way. States what he "will" do without even asking what I think. I think they feel "tough/strong" doing this. Generally if you stand up to the "bully" they back down - they make all sorts of threats and it may not be nice - but you can't have them riding rough-shod over you for the next 20 years. One question I have to BW and BE. If I have my pool in - and obviously my pool fence - which is the dividing fence. This fence was already part of the block - ie supplied by developer. We all have to have a certain fence at the back. Can he build a deck to that fence - which in effect negates my (his) fence - ie it makes it below the required height from his side ? There is no need to do this but he is currently talking (stating) that he intends doing this. I can't see how he can - as the fence is there and approved and it will be him who breaches it. As owner of property you are responsible what happens on your side but cannot control what your neighbour does. I would be asking municipal building surveyor. If your neighbour does something that is a danger to life and property, municipal building surveyor can intervene with emergency order. Cheers Branko Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 12Jun 04, 2014 8:18 am It blows me away that a neighbour changes his property in some way for his benefit, creates a problem for you that previously didn't exist, and then asks for half the money to fix his problem. Re: Who should pay for this retaining wall? 13Jun 04, 2014 8:22 am So long as that is the natural slope as you have indicated, not only do you not have to pay a single cent for their wall, but their wall must be built so that it doesn't cause your wall to fail. Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5197 Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20434 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16160 |