Neighbore's pool fence issue - advice pls

[waxdass]

Gents,

Basically neighbor has had inspection done with council. Fencing deemed not to comply because gap between his glass fence and our colorbond fence is more than 10cm.

I recently had house/yard renovations and he says that because of this, a particular fencing panel is leaning more to my side, thereby creating a gap at the top of the fence greater than the permissible 10cm. I recently bought the property so I have no idea if this was always like this or it has leaned afterwards.

He states that at the time of construction, checks were completed and his pool and surrounds were deemed compliant...

He formally requests that I take the required action so as to ensure that they pass their next inspection by the 31 May 2018.pingping

They have been advised that the inspections will be on an ongoing basis and so any final solution will need to be a permanent one.

We had a friendly chat on the weekend about this and I said I was willing to just prop the fence a bit straighter with some timber I have laying around... But his formal email today looks like he wants me to pay for it.

There is no proof that our construction works damaged or made the fence lean towards my side. We never did any work near it aside from clearing plants.

[Sensible]

Not your problem,

Level up the fence if it is leaning towards your place but it is on him to make sure his pool fence complys

[rodent]

I'd just dig the fence out and re-align it yourself - you spend no monies, he gets his compliant fence back.
You'll just be paying someone else who can operate a shovel to do the same thing.

I have a similar situation with my rear neighbour and can easily see the fenceline distort in Nearmaps over the period of his reno.

[huggy_b]

remove fence and enjoy your new pool.

[Bram]

Refuse to pay for the fence. Formaly request that he makes repair of the fence, stating that the weight of water in his pool has pushed the fence over.

(Just as plausible as blaming construction/reno work for causing it.)

Come spring/summer time i can garantee the fence will be fixed reguardles.

[rgvlee]

We recently had a protracted argument with a neighbour about a dividing fence. Our situation was that it came over in a storm but the neighbour blamed our tenants for damaging it.
Basically he claimed the insurance and wanted to keep it.

Anyway long story short there are very few cases where one party meets the entire cost of repairing the fence.



When a dividing fence is in need of repair, the owners of the adjoining land are each liable to pay half the costs of those repairs even where one or both of the blocks are vacant.

Exceptions to this include situations where:

the dividing fence was built partly by one owner and partly by the other. In this case each owner is responsible to repair the part of the fence they had built;
the dividing fence is damaged by a storm, fire, flood, lightning or other natural act. In this case either owner may repair the fence without notice and recover half the costs of the repair from the other owner; or
the dividing fence is damaged by fire or a falling tree or branch as a result of one owner’s actions. In this case the owner whose neglect caused the damage must repair the fence.


https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission/dividing-fences-0

Obviously the is abridged from the actual act but gives the general vibe of it.

Is the fence sound? Is it in disrepair?
Is it straight or on the piss? 10cm is a fair gap.

If it were me and there was nothing wrong with the fence I would politely refuse the request.
The other consideration is how well you get on with the neighbour. Neighbours can be pingpingpingpings over the smallest thing. While you may not need to, if it's bugger all to fix pay your half or even better DIY it.

[Damo 69]

make your morning dump an Aqua Bog

[waxdass]

Is the fence sound? Is it in disrepair?
Is it straight or on the piss? 10cm is a fair gap.

If it were me and there was nothing wrong with the fence I would politely refuse the request.
The other consideration is how well you get on with the neighbour. Neighbours can be pingpingpingpings over the smallest thing. While you may not need to, if it's bugger all to fix pay your half or even better DIY it.

ive attached links that show the neighbors side - and my side.

My side (count the 4th pole from rear)
https://i.imgur.com/ISfCSCp.jpg

*note - the bricks at the back are not leaning on the fence.

Neighbors Pics he emailed me:
https://i.imgur.com/Lm67del.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fApKzuD.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/IH2UFZU.jpg

All I agreed to do last week was to push it over with some spare timber I have. takes 5 minutes of my time, to avoid hassles. But his email pissed me right off.

[Sensible]

Is it straight or on the piss? 10cm is a fair gap.


100mm is the largest gap you are allowed under the pool fencing rules, when doing my glass fence around the pool I set the gap to 95mm to be safe

I would prop the fence from your side so it is level, dig around the footing and then pour some more rapid set in the hole and that is all you have to do

If the gap on his side is still more that the 100mm then it is up to him to either extend his pool fencing or fill the gap in with something solid and non-climbable

[strubaru]

the additional lattice your neighbour has bolted to the fence will contribute to any lean as these fences are not embeddded into the ground enough for any additional height

so if he wants to get all technical tell him to fix his own shit

[Sensible]

the additional lattice your neighbour has bolted to the fence will contribute to any lean as these fences are not embeddded into the ground enough for any additional height

so if he wants to get all technical tell him to fix his own shit

I didn’t even notice the lattice, that would be what has made the fence lean in the first place due to the weight and the wind that would be buffering it

[rgvlee]

So there is a 2.5cm lean at that section of the fence going by his measure

Looks fine in terms a fence though, I wouldn't be paying anymore than half.
You could counter and say he has extended the height of the fence (has he obtained written permission to do so), that has acted as a sail in effect and caused the fence to lean.*

*note I have no idea if that is the case, but it's like saying your renos caused it to move; i.e., prove it

[waxdass]

I've written a draft email back to him and attached the local fencing laws etc. stating his responsibilities and mine. Basically telling him to go fk himself in a very polite neighbor way, if he pipes up again.

This Saturday, I will push it across and support it with a piece of timber, like I told him I was happy to do. I had a play with it last night, feels solid but I think I could get the gap down.

[waxdass]

So there is a 2.5cm lean at that section of the fence going by his measure

Looks fine in terms a fence though, I wouldn't be paying anymore than half.


I'm not paying shit.

[sethor]

Your fencing has plinths so it is used for retaining as well, considering you're on the higher side it would be more likely to lean towards his side not yours. have you chucked a level on it? I would personally tell him to fly a kite, the fence is not in a state of disrepair you are not liable for any remedial works.

[waxdass]

I have, it's leaning slightly towards my side.
The fence is in good knick. I think it's also possible the contractor that installed that fence used piss weak concrete and the gusts of wind pushing that lattice would contribute to the lean.

[magic1]

you dont have a fence, you have a retaining wall.

have you lowered your ground level?

[waxdass]

no, all we've done is cleared vegatation etc that was there previously to make way for grass.

[djr81]

Cant he just shuffle the glass panel(s) over to be closer to the fence?

[dmanvan]

Cant he just shuffle the glass panel(s) over to be closer to the fence?

lol


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io4fxdBEApc