Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 02, 2018 7:58 pm I have just moved into my new home. The house next door is still under construction and someone has dumped a whole heap of rubbish near their skip. In the off loading of the rubbish my brand new fence has been buckled. The property developers put the fence up. Is anyone in particular liable for the damage? I am in Perth. @Madora Dreamer Re: Property damage 2Jan 03, 2018 1:01 am Fences are joint property, so as a general rule costs to repair damage must be shared between the property owners. The act that damaged the fence must be negligent (i.e. a reasonable person ought to have foreseen that their failure to exercise care in the course of their actions would have resulted in the damage). By the sounds of it, you could argue that the bin contractor was negligent and should have foreseen the likelihood of damage by moving the bin. The fact that he wasn't responsible for the rubbish next to the bin wouldn't seem relevant. Maybe approach the builder and ask them to repair the damage. They are responsible for their contractor's actions on site. Re: Property damage 3Jan 03, 2018 2:10 am echo_base Fences are joint property, so as a general rule costs to repair damage must be shared between the property owners. The act that damaged the fence must be negligent (i.e. a reasonable person ought to have foreseen that their failure to exercise care in the course of their actions would have resulted in the damage). By the sounds of it, you could argue that the bin contractor was negligent and should have foreseen the likelihood of damage by moving the bin. The fact that he wasn't responsible for the rubbish next to the bin wouldn't seem relevant. Maybe approach the builder and ask them to repair the damage. They are responsible for their contractor's actions on site. @Madora Dreamer Re: Property damage 4Jan 03, 2018 7:12 am It Pays to take photos of fences before and after next door builds. goodluck Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Property damage 5Jan 03, 2018 3:01 pm Unfortunately we have the displeasure of dealing with damaged and misalligned fences, the Dividing Fences Act 1961 states that the fence only has to be sufficient, full copy available from Commerce WA. I wish you good luck as we have encountered some rude people who forget that we will soon be their neighbours...... Best to also take photos during construction and not just fences, include kerbs and the road. We have lots of before and after demo along with before and during construction photos in case anyone tries to hold us responsible for the damage caused by the build next to us. I thought this would be a popular question but I haven't been able to find any similar posts. Perhaps I'm wording my searches wrong? When you have car insurance and the… 0 6616 there was an event. The question is whether the builder had the insurance and whether the event was covered. The workmanship is a separate conversation. 10 23752 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair The workmanship is lifetime guarantee by "the insurer", not the builder. They will of course ask the initial builder to rectify and if they don't they will appoint… 7 5053 |