Retaining Walls - A Fence Will Do

Hi all,

I'm currently trying to sort out an issue with an IP in Perth (Shire of Wanneroo).

Here's the problem:



Neighbour's builder has subdivided the block so they could fit two houses on a new-ish block designed for one. Seems that to make this work, builder has to raise the lay of the land around 60cm on the rear boundary of my property.

As you can see, this has been retained by using the existing pinelap fence in a structural capacity.

This all happened a fair while back, but now that I've built on my block and put tenants in the house, it becomes an active issue for me.

The force of the soil pushing on the fence over several years seems to have caused the horizontal crossbeam to bow out significantly, some of the palings have broken and the tenants are now worried that the whole fence will fall down on them.



(I've held off on completing my rear landscaping here until this issue is fixed).

Questions:
1. It seems pretty clear that whoever changes the lay of the land is responsible for retaining their block. Am I missing anything here? Dividing Fences and Retaining Walls - Master Builders WA

2. Have you come across people using fences to retain this much dirt? It certainly doesn't seem like a sensible idea to me!

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

I had a property in Brisbane where the estate used pinelap fencing. The retaining was pinelap too. My neighbour was built higher. Although my yard looked fine all of his yard started to badly erode. 15 years after the estate was built he got quotes for his intire yard/fencing on three sides to be fixed. I think it was $60,000. He tried to get us to pay a portion, which we didn’t as the fence and retaining was on his title. Better for your neighbour to fix sooner than later. Pine doesn’t last.

 

Its certainly your neighbor’s responsibility to put in a retaining wall. A fence isn’t meant to retain soil. They need to pay for the retaining wall but you will need to go 50/50 on the new fence which will be erected on top of retaining wall.

 

Here is more details on what my fencing was like. It’s crazy the develeoper behind you never put retaining in under the colorbond! I would advise them of the damage it’s causing ASAP. Brisbane Retaining wall and fence - BCC
Here’s some more info on Perth retaining too. Colorbond Plinths

 

That is illegal fill. Councils have very strict requirements for engineered retaining walls OR exempt retaining walls and a boundary fence is a great example of when one MUST be used. The issue may be something to raise with council as it may indicate a non-compliance with approved plans at the time of the construction. They can issue a order for the other side to be remedied and no time limit applies. There is also potential for illegal drainage to redirect water runoff (the pics appear to show a washout) etc and that too may also be illegal and need to be addressed.

You would likely have no liability for 50% of fence replacement cost. It has been damaged by the illegal works and may otherwise be in good order.

 

Thanks Paul, and I also appreciate the other answers.

My understanding of the fence is as you state. If the block had not been raised or had been adequately retained, the fence would not need replacing. Therefore, responsibility would lie with the party that caused the damage - quite different to an average fence issue where weather etc has damaged it.