Retaining wall questions

mr_zedx · Jul 06, 2023 3:59 pm

Hi all,

I purchased a sloping block last year - about .5-.75 sloping to one side, however I am also on a corner so my builder has balanced this by doing a cut and fill.

I am now responsible for retaining walls for neighbouring sides and I am a bit confused, since I am on the lower side and I have excavated deeper am I liable for the retaining wall? from what I've been told I am fully responsible due to digging deeper.

Also, with regards to backfill on the wall, if the backfill falls on the side of the neighbor (me being on the lower side) who needs to pay for that and the drainage - everywhere I've seen states that both parties have to maintain their own but surely if I'm building the wall shouldn't backfill that falls on the side of the other party be their issue?

if they refuse to backfill or drain correctly what can I do?

I am in NSW and I have engineering plans for the wall part of my build (upto 1m)

Thanks in advance.

KnockItDown · Jul 07, 2023 11:18 am

Not sure what council area you are in but yes you are liable for the cost of the retaining wall as you are the one that changed the level of the ground. Some LGA's allow zero lot retaining walls. This usually occurs in greenfield developments but not often in established areas. You need to check what council regs are in-place specific to you. You may find that your wall including sufficient space to accommodate drainage etc needs to be entirely on your property.

I went thru a similar situation for my build in an established area where my topside neighbor had built a zero lot wall years ago. I knew before buying my block that I would need to step my wall off my neighbors wall to ensure I didn't undermine his wall.

Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

Hope this helps.