Boundary Wall Share By Neighbour

[cookcpu 1]

My neighbour are reconstructing their house, the boundary wall are paid by them. Do they have the right to drill hole through the wall right to our side, meaning tiny hole appear on my side of the wall.

We have inform the worker but they keep on drilling.

What are the solution to this problem, for example any department to complain about their work.

[yoongf 11]

It is a simple issue which I have encountered many times before. The boundary line is a thin line. It all depends on whether the wall is sitting on their side of the line or on your side. There is no such thing as a wall built right in the middle of the line.

So.. if the wall is entirely on their side, they can do whatever they want. If your side of the line do not have wall, and u went to paint "your" side of their wall, they can even send u letter.

For example.. got 1 case.. the wall is on party A side of the line, but party B went to stick feature wall items on Party B side of the wall. When party A demolish the wall, feature wall all gone. Party A dun need to restore the feature wall hor.

So.. the best thing to do.. is to build your own wall on your side of the boundary line. Because.. your neighbour can even dun plaster the brick wall, and u will then see ugly red brick.

[cookcpu 1]

It is a simple issue which I have encountered many times before. The boundary line is a thin line. It all depends on whether the wall is sitting on their side of the line or on your side. There is no such thing as a wall built right in the middle of the line.

So.. if the wall is entirely on their side, they can do whatever they want. If your side of the line do not have wall, and u went to paint "your" side of their wall, they can even send u letter.

For example.. got 1 case.. the wall is on party A side of the line, but party B went to stick feature wall items on Party B side of the wall. When party A demolish the wall, feature wall all gone. Party A dun need to restore the feature wall hor.

So.. the best thing to do.. is to build your own wall on your side of the boundary line. Because.. your neighbour can even dun plaster the brick wall, and u will then see ugly red brick.

Thank you, the wall is on both side meaning it was share half half. I didn't agreed to it and somehow they just build it.

The neighbour first intention is to come to our land to dig a deep trench and build the wall so that his basement have a bigger area. I didn't agreed to it. I just told them that they can build a wall on their side of their land.

Now the wall is occupy both our land even though they pay for the cost of building it which we can surely afford to build our own wall.

So in this case, I can destroy the part of the wall that is on my land.

Edited May 22, 2008 by cookcpu

[yoongf 11]

Hmm.. wait.. the goose may have just laid the golden egg on your doorstep.

First, get a surveyor to determine the boundary. dun rely on old fence line, get a new survey done, cos over the years, may have soil movement, physical structures move a little.

Once confirmed that the new wall is sitting on your land, u can tell neighbour or the contractor or the architect this word ... "ENCROACHMENT". The surveyor can advise u what that word means, and why I say the goose came.

If no hue, u complain to BCA/ SLA. neighbour may never get to move in to new house. If got deep basement involved, and it's a Mil dollar repair job.. can u imagine how much they will be willing to compensate u to settle the issue?

[cookcpu 1]

Hmm.. wait.. the goose may have just laid the golden egg on your doorstep.

First, get a surveyor to determine the boundary. dun rely on old fence line, get a new survey done, cos over the years, may have soil movement, physical structures move a little.

Once confirmed that the new wall is sitting on your land, u can tell neighbour or the contractor or the architect this word ... "ENCROACHMENT". The surveyor can advise u what that word means, and why I say the goose came.

If no hue, u complain to BCA/ SLA. neighbour may never get to move in to new house. If got deep basement involved, and it's a Mil dollar repair job.. can u imagine how much they will be willing to compensate u to settle the issue?

Thank you for the information given.

Anyway I found out that one of my family member have given a verbal agreement with them regarding the boundary wall.

I have no intention of doing that but I now at least know what type of action to take should the neighbour contractor didn't repair my side of the wall.

[vampree 0]

Wow - interesting read Yoongf .. thanks for that ...

Cookcpu - testing moments that can make/break relationship with neighbour ... hope things will turn out well for you and new neighbour ..

[leechaorui 2]

I think better to give and take in life.

Since your neigbour build a wall shared by both sides, I think you also got the benefit. At least your neigbour didn't ask you to share the cost of building the wall.

When your neigbour do drilling, you can also do drilling. After that, patch up the wall on the other side. Like that, you good to him, he good to you, both of you are good neighbours. Living at home becomes easier and nicer when you have good neighbours.

[Dax Leland 0]

My neighbour insists on parknig his car on my part of the drive and refuses to move it. although he owns his house i am a council tenant but three quarters of the drive is the councils and if a boundary wall was erected he would not be able to get his car in or out....thanks

[cookcpu 1]

I think better to give and take in life.

Since your neigbour build a wall shared by both sides, I think you also got the benefit. At least your neigbour didn't ask you to share the cost of building the wall.

When your neigbour do drilling, you can also do drilling. After that, patch up the wall on the other side. Like that, you good to him, he good to you, both of you are good neighbours. Living at home becomes easier and nicer when you have good neighbours.

The fact is I have told my neighbour that he can build his wall on his side of his property and do not use my land for his piling work for his property. The point is not about sharing the cost but his boundary wall will cost a lot and it is not a normal boundary wall.

Now I am just praying that there will be no land slide in his property if not my house will collapse on to his property if their piling work collapse.

[leechaorui 2]

The fact is I have told my neighbour that he can build his wall on his side of his property and do not use my land for his piling work for his property. The point is not about sharing the cost but his boundary wall will cost a lot and it is not a normal boundary wall.

Now I am just praying that there will be no land slide in his property if not my house will collapse on to his property if their piling work collapse.

I do not know how abnormal his boundary wall is. My view is give and take is a better way to solve issues.

I know of neigbours who build boundary wall on the common area, so both sides stand to gain. If the neigbour build the wall entirely on his side, you will have the full use of the space in your land and at the same time enjoy the privacy of a wall. Though the difference is not very big, I think sharing is a good way forward, unless there are specific reasons like abnormal boundary wall that you had mentioned.

Since your neighbour is doing construction work, it is common to have public liability insurance. If there is damage to your property, the contractors will have to compensate you and carry out the necessary repairs.

Generally, contractors are careful not to damage the neighbour's house and the engineers that plan the piling work are also qualified. I don't think you should worry too much, though accidents sometimes do happen. As long as care is taken in the construction, this is about the best your neighbour can do.

I think as long as your neighbour inform you and seek your understanding in building his house, I think give and take is still a good way forward. In future, when you rebuild your house, you will have a supportive neighbour.

Hope you don't find my comments offensive.

Cheers.

[cookcpu 1]

I do not know how abnormal his boundary wall is. My view is give and take is a better way to solve issues.

I know of neigbours who build boundary wall on the common area, so both sides stand to gain. If the neigbour build the wall entirely on his side, you will have the full use of the space in your land and at the same time enjoy the privacy of a wall. Though the difference is not very big, I think sharing is a good way forward, unless there are specific reasons like abnormal boundary wall that you had mentioned.

Since your neighbour is doing construction work, it is common to have public liability insurance. If there is damage to your property, the contractors will have to compensate you and carry out the necessary repairs.

Generally, contractors are careful not to damage the neighbour's house and the engineers that plan the piling work are also qualified. I don't think you should worry too much, though accidents sometimes do happen. As long as care is taken in the construction, this is about the best your neighbour can do.

I think as long as your neighbour inform you and seek your understanding in building his house, I think give and take is still a good way forward. In future, when you rebuild your house, you will have a supportive neighbour.

Hope you don't find my comments offensive.

Cheers.

The neighbour already completed their construction and no point of talking it here. Would you paid for the share cost of the boundary wall which needed to do piling work on it in order to build it which might cost 10 times more than a normal boundary wall.

PS. In the first place they already wish to hide the fact from us by asking us to rent out 1 m of our land to them for construction work without going into detail. They try to use canvas(into our property) to cover the boundary wall so that they can do construction work in it without asking for our permission . Anyway, I shall stop here rather go on and on. I shall be a bad neighbour then in the eye of the forummer here.

Edited November 5, 2008 by cookcpu

[xebay11 0]

The neighbour already completed their construction and no point of talking it here. Would you paid for the share cost of the boundary wall which needed to do piling work on it in order to build it which might cost 10 times more than a normal boundary wall.

PS. In the first place they already wish to hide the fact from us by asking us to rent out 1 m of our land to them for construction work without going into detail. They try to use canvas(into our property) to cover the boundary wall so that they can do construction work in it without asking for our permission . Anyway, I shall stop here rather go on and on. I shall be a bad neighbour then in the eye of the forummer here.

Hate to say this, but I support you. I hope this helps to get things off your chest. We can't be politically correct all the time, or else our health suffers.

[leechaorui 2]

Now the wall is occupy both our land even though they pay for the cost of building it which we can surely afford to build our own wall. ~ an earlier quote from your post

The neighbour already completed their construction and no point of talking it here. Would you paid for the share cost of the boundary wall which needed to do piling work on it in order to build it which might cost 10 times more than a normal boundary wall.

PS. In the first place they already wish to hide the fact from us by asking us to rent out 1 m of our land to them for construction work without going into detail. They try to use canvas(into our property) to cover the boundary wall so that they can do construction work in it without asking for our permission . Anyway, I shall stop here rather go on and on. I shall be a bad neighbour then in the eye of the forummer here.

Dear Cookcpu,

In your earlier quote, you mentioned that your neighbour bore the cost of building the shared boundary wall (quoted in bold) but in your latest reply, you wrote about your neighbour doing a boundary wall using piling and expecting you to share the cost (underline).

I am not sure what is your situation. Did your neighbour told you that they pay for the cost of shared boundary wall which one of your family members had earlier agreed (based on what you wrote) and then suddenly use piling to construct the wall and expect you to pay for a share of it?

BTW, when I was walking around my estate and looking at building undergoing construction, a lot of them had canvass to cover it up. I think this may be a standard practice. I thimk the purpose is to avoid noise and dust from affecting neighbouring house. I don't think it is conclusive to correlate that your neighbour is using the canvas to cover up their act, though this could be a possibility. However, I take your point that as good neighbours, they should inform you that they are doing piling work. This is because piling work can quite often adversely affect surrounding properties, causing cracks, etc.

While I advocate give and take, I do not tolerate bullying especially excessive bullying by others. Anyway, I am not clear of the actual situation that you wrote about. There could be more issues in your mind that you did not articulate in the forum. If you feel that you need to get this off your chest, I would suggest that have a conversation on the issues you feel with your family and your neighbour. At least it can put some closure to your feelings and suspicions.

I will end here with a note that I do not mean any offence to you. Just sharing my thoughts since you wrote about the issue in the forum. If you wish to speak with me, we can communiate via pm.

Cheers.

Edited November 6, 2008 by leechaorui

[cookcpu 1]

Dear Cookcpu,

In your earlier quote, you mentioned that your neighbour bore the cost of building the shared boundary wall (quoted in bold) but in your latest reply, you wrote about your neighbour doing a boundary wall using piling and expecting you to share the cost (underline).

I am not sure what is your situation. Did your neighbour told you that they pay for the cost of shared boundary wall which one of your family members had earlier agreed (based on what you wrote) and then suddenly use piling to construct the wall and expect you to pay for a share of it?

BTW, when I was walking around my estate and looking at building undergoing construction, a lot of them had canvass to cover it up. I think this may be a standard practice. I thimk the purpose is to avoid noise and dust from affecting neighbouring house. I don't think it is conclusive to correlate that your neighbour is using the canvas to cover up their act, though this could be a possibility. However, I take your point that as good neighbours, they should inform you that they are doing piling work. This is because piling work can quite often adversely affect surrounding properties, causing cracks, etc.

While I advocate give and take, I do not tolerate bullying especially excessive bullying by others. Anyway, I am not clear of the actual situation that you wrote about. There could be more issues in your mind that you did not articulate in the forum. If you feel that you need to get this off your chest, I would suggest that have a conversation on the issues you feel with your family and your neighbour. At least it can put some closure to your feelings and suspicions.

I will end here with a note that I do not mean any offence to you. Just sharing my thoughts since you wrote about the issue in the forum. If you wish to speak with me, we can communiate via pm.

Cheers.

To clear thing up, a family member was told by the neighbour that the boundary wall will be build and at no cost to us but that family member didn't reply or agreed to it. (Later I found out after posting it in forum)

I didn't say that the neighbour ask us to share the cost of the boundary wall which if we will ask, we don't mind sharing the cost.

The cost of the boundary wall is estimated by me after the whole project had completed and then I realise how much it going to cost to build such a wall.

The canvass was put up in our garden and not in his compound to cover up the boundary wall which later we demand that they put it up on their land instead of inside our land.

PS. Thanks to yoongf have given me the answer to my problem.

Edited November 13, 2008 by cookcpu

[JustAsking 0]

To clear thing up, a family member was told by the neighbour that the boundary wall will be build and at no cost to us but that family member didn't reply or agreed to it. (Later I found out after posting it in forum)

I didn't say that the neighbour ask us to share the cost of the boundary wall which if we will ask, we don't mind sharing the cost.

The cost of the boundary wall is estimated by me after the whole project had completed and then I realise how much it going to cost to build such a wall.

The canvass was put up in our garden and not in his compound to cover up the boundary wall which later we demand that they put it up on their land instead of inside our land.

PS. Thanks to yoongf have given me the answer to my problem.

Dear cookcpu

Just thought I'll offer this advice.

If your neighbour did build some structure on your land without your consent explictly written ,then you are entitled to, first inform them to remove it and relocated to their own boundary.

If you don't take action now and as time pass, it'll be more difficult if eventually it has to be handled thru the legal process anyway to have it removed anyway.

But firstly, you have to engage a land surveyor ,who will determine rather accurately for you both on site and in drawing where and how much the 'encroaching structures' had come over.

This process is not very costly, range from less than a $1k or so.

With the factual information, if there was indeed encroachment as shown by the land survey mapping then inform your neighbour about it and be firm that they should remove the structure by a given deadline.

If they delay to act, give a positive reply or refuse, you'll have to engage a lawyer to act upon it. Hopefully it doesn't come to this.

Cheers.