Hi all,
I have a slight dispute with my neighbour regarding their retaining wall on our property boundary. But let me tell some background details first.
I bought a block of land a few years ago, and once land was released, we had a survey on the land, including a contour survey. Our block is on the low side of a slope, i.e. our next door neighbour's house sits almost one meter higher than ours. We had plenty of delays with our build, so neighbour built their house before us. When their builder was tidying up the perimeter of their house, they spread soil around the house slab, and created a slope towards my property, bringing 20-40 cm deep fill on the boundary. Then they built a retaining wall on top of that fill, and added more fill around the house to create a level surface on their side.
Now that my house was finally built, my builder had to remove the fill on my side that was spread on the property boundary, because my house was designed using the contours from survey as a reference. Obviously, it looks like they have cut into the ground, and there is exposed soil underneath the neighbour's retaining wall that now needs additional retaining, just as the posts needs to be extended as well.
I have checked current ground levels in the areas in question using our house slab levels from plan as reference, and my calculations show that ground levels are still above what they are in the survey. In other words, what appears to be our cut is in reality still neighbour's fill.
Now the question is, who is responsible for the job modifying the retaining wall. My opinion is that it would be neighbour's responsibility, because the fill in question is solely part of their landscaping. I also view that the original contour survey is the reference that any changes in ground levels are measured against, and there is no cut.
Neighbour, on the other hand, thinks that it would be my responsibility, because my builder has 'excavated below the natural fall of the land'. She also seems to have some professional support for that opinion. Since that view is different to mine, I assume that there can be two explanations. Firstly, professionals only look at the appearance, disregarding the real changes to natural levels. Secondly, there is this possibility that now the reference is no longer the original survey, but the levels that the neighbour's builder created, and that actually seems to be the way many people think.
If the second option would be correct, it creates an interesting legal, or at least moral scenario. Namely, you would be allowed to dump unauthorised soil on your neighbour's land in the name of landscaping yours, get away with retaining your fill, since it is supported by the part on your neighbour's land, and finally when your neighbour has to remove the soil you dumped, they will be liable for building a retaining wall for you. Sounds weird, but that's basically what we have at hand at the moment.
I would appreciate if someone wiser could shed some light into this dilemma.
Thank you,
Tim Kay
I have a slight dispute with my neighbour regarding their retaining wall on our property boundary. But let me tell some background details first.
I bought a block of land a few years ago, and once land was released, we had a survey on the land, including a contour survey. Our block is on the low side of a slope, i.e. our next door neighbour's house sits almost one meter higher than ours. We had plenty of delays with our build, so neighbour built their house before us. When their builder was tidying up the perimeter of their house, they spread soil around the house slab, and created a slope towards my property, bringing 20-40 cm deep fill on the boundary. Then they built a retaining wall on top of that fill, and added more fill around the house to create a level surface on their side.
Now that my house was finally built, my builder had to remove the fill on my side that was spread on the property boundary, because my house was designed using the contours from survey as a reference. Obviously, it looks like they have cut into the ground, and there is exposed soil underneath the neighbour's retaining wall that now needs additional retaining, just as the posts needs to be extended as well.
I have checked current ground levels in the areas in question using our house slab levels from plan as reference, and my calculations show that ground levels are still above what they are in the survey. In other words, what appears to be our cut is in reality still neighbour's fill.
Now the question is, who is responsible for the job modifying the retaining wall. My opinion is that it would be neighbour's responsibility, because the fill in question is solely part of their landscaping. I also view that the original contour survey is the reference that any changes in ground levels are measured against, and there is no cut.
Neighbour, on the other hand, thinks that it would be my responsibility, because my builder has 'excavated below the natural fall of the land'. She also seems to have some professional support for that opinion. Since that view is different to mine, I assume that there can be two explanations. Firstly, professionals only look at the appearance, disregarding the real changes to natural levels. Secondly, there is this possibility that now the reference is no longer the original survey, but the levels that the neighbour's builder created, and that actually seems to be the way many people think.
If the second option would be correct, it creates an interesting legal, or at least moral scenario. Namely, you would be allowed to dump unauthorised soil on your neighbour's land in the name of landscaping yours, get away with retaining your fill, since it is supported by the part on your neighbour's land, and finally when your neighbour has to remove the soil you dumped, they will be liable for building a retaining wall for you. Sounds weird, but that's basically what we have at hand at the moment.
I would appreciate if someone wiser could shed some light into this dilemma.
Thank you,
Tim Kay