Under the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW), fencing work includes:
Owners must share the cost of building, repairing or replacing a sufficient dividing fence between their properties (unless the dividing fence acts as a barrier for a swimming pool or where the fence has been damaged by one owner).
What is a sufficient dividing fence will depend on:
For more information, see Your rights and obligations on the My problem is about section of our website.
Generally, the law says that adjoining owners must share the cost of building or repairing a sufficient dividing fence between their properties, unless:
If an existing fence has been damaged, either deliberately or accidentally, the neighbour who caused the damage is usually responsible to restore the fence to the condition it was in before it was damaged.
If the dividing fence has been damaged, either deliberately or accidentally, the adjoining owner who caused the damage is usually responsible to restore the fence to the condition it was in before it was damaged.
If the dividing fence was damaged by the neighbour’s builder, you should speak to the neighbour first. They can ask the builder to fix the damaged fence. If your neighbour or their builder refuses to fix the damaged fence, you can serve a fencing notice to the neighbour to pay for the cost of fixing the fence.
For more information, see Who should pay? in Your rights and obligations on the My problem is about section of our website.
Adjoining owners must share the cost of building or repairing a sufficient dividing fence between their properties. If, however, a portion or all of the dividing fence operates as a barrier for a swimming pool then the owner of the property that has the pool is responsible for all of the costs to maintain, repair or replace that part of the fence. This is covered in the Swimming Pools Act 1992 (NSW).
If both owners of adjoining properties have a dividing fence that acts as a barrier for two pools then both owners are responsible for the costs in maintaining, repairing or replacing the dividing fence in appropriate proportions.
If you are not sure about whether you are responsible for the costs to replace a dividing fence that acts as a barrier for a swimming pool, you should get legal advice.
A public authority doesn’t have a legal responsibility to share the cost of a dividing fence with you. Public authorities include Local Councils, Housing NSW, or a public school.
Fencing work includes:
According to the procedure set out in the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW), to carry out fencing work any trees on the boundary line can be trimmed, lopped or removed to prepare for the dividing fence. You should speak to:
If more than 50% of the tree is on the neighbour’s property you can’t cut it down without your neighbour's consent. If you remove the tree without your neighbour's consent, your neighbour may start a claim against you for property damage.
You should talk to your neighbour first about a problem with a tree. If your neighbour doesn't agree, you can try mediation at a Community Justice Centre.
You should also contact your Local Council to find out whether you need council approval to remove or prune a tree. There are penalties for removing protected trees.
For more information, see the Trees topic.
If you want to repair, replace or build a dividing fence you can:
If you need help negotiating with your neighbour, you could also try mediation at Community Justice Centres.
For more information, see the Community Justice Centres website.
Adjoining owners must generally share the cost of building or repairing a sufficient dividing fence between their properties.
It is important to be aware that:
Before you apply for a fencing order or carry out urgent fencing work, you should get legal advice.
Under the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW), if a damaged fence requires urgent repairs and it is not practicable to serve a fencing notice, you can repair the fence without first contacting your neighbour, and then claim a contribution from them towards the costs of the fencing work.
It always a good idea if you can speak to your neighbour first about why the urgent fencing work is needed, how the cost of repairs will be shared and what is a reasonable time to carry out the fencing work. You should put any agreement you reach in writing and keep any proof of why the urgent work was needed, such as photos.
If your neighbour disputes that the fencing work was urgent, they can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or Local Court within a month of the work being completed to review the need for the work and how the costs of the work are paid.
If your neighbour doesn't pay, you can:
If you undertake fencing work without giving your neighbour notice because you believe the work is urgent, and the Local Court or NCAT find it was not urgent work, you may not be able to get a contribution from your neighbour.
For more information, see Urgent fencing work on the My problem is about section of our website.
If you want to do fencing work but you don't know the owner of the neighbouring property, you can:
For more information, see Finding your neighbour in Talk to your neighbour on the My problem is about section of our website.
Fencing work on a dividing fence must be done with the agreement of both owners of neighbouring properties. However, if you are happy to pay the entire cost of building, fixing or repairing a dividing fence then your neighbour will not have to share the cost of the work. It is still important for you and your neighbour to talk about what type of fence will be built and where it will go to avoid a dispute later.
If you access your neighbour's property to remove or undertake fencing work without their permission, you will be trespassing on their property. Trespass is a criminal offence and you could be charged by the Police. You could also be held responsible for any damage caused to the fence, or your neighbour's property.
If you enter your neighbour's property without their permission, you will be trespassing unless:
Any fencing work that you do must be carried out at a reasonable time.
For more information on making an access application, see the FAQ below Access to my neighbour's property.
A fence that is not exactly on the boundary line is still a dividing fence under the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW). This means that you and your neighbour will equally own the fence and that you need your neighbour's agreement for any proposed fencing work.
In practice, it may be difficult for your neighbour to stop you building a fence on your side of the boundary if you do it at your own cost.
It depends on whether your land is Torrens Title or Old System. Most land is Torrens Title, so this means in most cases, you won't lose ownership of any land on the other side of a dividing fence.
For more information, see Neighbours and the law on the Find Legal Answers website.
Before you carry out any fencing work, you should try to locate the owner of the adjoining land.
You can do a title search through NSW Land Registry Services to find out the name of the registered owners or contact the local council and make an access application. If the property is tenanted, you can ask the managing agent.
For more information, see Finding your neighbour in Talk to your neighbour on the My problem is about section of our website.
No. If you have already built a dividing fence before your neighbour purchased their land, you can’t seek a contribution towards the fencing work from your new neighbour.
If you are planning to carry out any type of excavation work to build a fence, retaining wall or general landscaping work, you (or your contractor) must lodge an enquiry with Dial Before You Dig before you commence work. This free search will provide you with information about the location of any cables or pipes below the surface of the excavation site.
For more information, see the Dial Before You Dig website.
If you deliberately or negligently damage an underground cable or pipe during your excavation work, the asset owner may seek compensation for the damage you have caused.
If you don’t know the owner’s postal address, you can ask the managing agent if they can give you the owner’s contact details, or if they can forward the fencing notice to the owner of the property.
For more information, see Finding your neighbour in Talk to your neighbour on the My problem is about section of this website.
If you can't reach an agreement with your neighbour about fencing work, you can serve them with a fencing notice. A fencing notice is a written notice that says what fencing work you want done and asks your neighbour to contribute to the cost.
If you serve a fencing notice and, after one month, you and your neighbour still can't come to an agreement (or your neighbour simply doesn't respond to the fencing notice), either you or your neighbour can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal or Local Court for a fencing order.
For more information, see Step by step guide - Preparing a Fencing Notice on the My problem is about section of our website.
If you reach an agreement with your neighbour about fencing work, you should put the agreement in writing. Any written agreement should include details about the type of fencing work, position of the fence and how the costs of the work are to be paid.
For more information, see Talk to your neighbour on the My problem is about section of our website.
If you serve a fencing notice and, after one month, your neighbour doesn't respond, or you and your neighbour can't reach an agreement, either of you can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or the Local Court for an order for fencing work.
If you or your neighbour has served a fencing notice and, after one month, you and your neighbour still can't come to an agreement, you can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or the Local Court for an order for fencing work.
A fencing order is a decision by NCAT or the Local Court about what fencing work should be done.
If you want to apply for a fencing order, you will need to fill in an application form and pay a filing fee. The form and fees vary depending on whether you are applying to NCAT or the Local Court.
For more information see Fencing Orders on the My problem is about section of our website.
Before applying for a fencing order, you should get legal advice.
If you want to change the date of the hearing, you should inform the other party in writing and ask them if they agree. You will need to complete the Adjournment request form or send a request in writing explaining your reasons for an adjournment. You should include supporting documents with your request.
It is up to NCAT to accept or refuse the adjournment.
For more information, see Adjournments on the NCAT website.
Certain action can be taken to enforce a fencing order, regardless of whether it was made by the Local Court, Local Land Board (before 1 January 2014), or the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
For more information, see After the decision on the My problem is about section of our website.
If you go ahead with fencing work without an agreement with your neighbour or fencing order, you generally will not be able to recover a contribution to the cost of fencing work except in very limited circumstances, for example where urgent work was necessary.
There may be very limited circumstances where you are able to get an order to serve a fencing notice within 12 months from when the fence is built.
If you want to claim a contribution from your neighbour and the fencing work has been completed, you should get legal advice.
If you were the party that applied to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) and your matter was dismissed because you didn't go to the hearing, you may be able to make a reinstatement application if you have a reasonable excuse for not attending, for example, you were in hospital or you didn't receive the notice telling you when you had to attend.
You will need to complete an Application to reinstate proceedings. You can get a copy from the Forms page on the NCAT website.
You must attach any documents that support your explanation, such as:
You must lodge your application within seven days from the date the decision to dismiss the proceedings. This time frame may only be extended in special circumstances.
You will need to pay a further application fee.
Before making a reinstatement application, you should get urgent legal advice.
If your neighbour has not complied with the orders made by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), you may have options to enforce it, depending on the type of orders that were made.
If NCAT had made an order that the other party do certain things, such as arrange for a new fence to be built by a certain date and this has not been done by the time specified in the orders, you can ask NCAT to renew the case. This means that the case goes back for further hearing at NCAT.
NCAT could then make new orders. You can ask for your case to be renewed by the time specified in the orders. If no time has been specified, then you can make the application within 12 months of the date the work was meant to be completed. There is a fee to renew the proceedings.
For more information, see Enforce a work order on the NCAT website.
If NCAT has made an order that the other party pay you a specific amount of money, and they have not paid the amount as ordered, it is possible to try and recover the money you are owed by taking enforcement action in the Local Court.
You will need to get a certificate from NCAT certifying the amount the other party has been ordered to pay you. Once you have the certified money order from NCAT, you can register it with the Local Court and it will have the same effect as a judgment of the Local Court.
The time limit to register the NCAT order is 6 years from the date of the order. Once registered, you have 12 years from the date of registration to enforce it as a judgment debt.
For more information, see After the NCAT decision in After the decision on the My problem is about section of our website.
A federal jurisdiction problem is when the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) does not have power to decide your matter. For example, this may be when an NCAT application:
If there is a federal jurisdiction problem, NCAT will give you a letter explaining that you can apply to the Local Court.
For more information, see Federal jurisdiction on the NCAT website.
If you are not sure what this means for your matter, you should get legal advice.
To apply to the Local Court you will need to file:
There is no filing fee, unless you have made a lot of changes to your original application.
For a copy of a Summons and an Affidavit form, see Sample forms for Federal Proceedings (from NCAT) on the Local Court website.
If you need help applying to the Local Court, you should get legal advice.
If your neighbour doesn't attend a hearing for an application for a fencing order, the court or tribunal may decide to hear the matter without them being involved.
If your case is being decided by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), you can't apply for costs. If your case is heard in the Local Court, you may be able to claim your legal costs, if you were represented by a lawyer. You should speak to your lawyer about this.
If you are unhappy with the decision made by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), you may be able to:
If you are unhappy with a decision of the NCAT Appeal Panel, you may seek leave (permission) to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of NSW on a point of law. You have 28 days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Before filing an internal appeal to NCAT or before appealing to the Supreme Court of NSW, you should get legal advice.
If you are unhappy with the decision made by the Local Court, you may be able to:
If you want to appeal a decision of the Local Court, you should get legal advice.
If your neighbour has given you a fencing notice it means that they want work done on the fence between your properties, for example, a new fence or repairs to an existing fence. You should read the fencing notice carefully as it should outline:
You have a number of options when responding to a fencing notice:
If you don’t talk to your neighbour or can’t come to an agreement with them about the fencing work needed, after one month, either you or your neighbour may apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or the Local Court for a fencing order.
For more information, see What if we can't agree on the My problem is about section of our website.
There is no requirement that your neighbour give you more than one quote for fencing work.
If your neighbour sends you a fencing notice, they may attach a quote for the work they want done. If no quote is attached, you could request one. If you don't agree with the costs in the quote, you can talk to your neighbour about getting another quote or arrange your own quote.
If your neighbour is going to carry out fencing work, you should:
The only way that you can stop the fencing work is to apply to the Supreme Court of NSW for an injunction. This is very expensive and difficult legal process. You should get legal advice before you consider doing this.
If your neighbour goes ahead with fencing work without your agreement or without an order from the Local Court or the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), they generally will not be able to recover a contribution to the cost of fencing work unless urgent fencing work was necessary.
If your neighbour enters your property without permission, or damages your property, you should get legal advice.
Even if you don’t want a fence, your neighbour may be able to make an application to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or the Local Court for a fence to be built and for you to contribute to it.
If your neighbour builds a fence that you do not want, without a Fencing Order, you may not have to contribute to the cost of the fence. However, you may not have any legal option to get rid of the fence.
Fencing Orders can only be made where there is no sufficient fence. If NCAT or the Local Court considers that fence to be sufficient, they can’t make any order to change the fence.
Whether you have other legal options will depend on your specific circumstances. If your neighbour has built a fence you do not want, you should get legal advice.
If your neighbour wants to build a new dividing fence, or replace an existing dividing fence, they can serve you with a fencing notice and ask you to pay a contribution.
If the existing fence is sufficient but your neighbour wants a fence that is of a higher standard, they are responsible to pay for the difference in the cost.
There is a process that you and your neighbour must follow to determine a boundary line when fencing work is needed.
If you want to do fencing work but you are not sure where your boundary line is, you can start by serving your neighbour with a boundary notice. A boundary notice is a written document that tells your neighbour you want to work out where the boundary line is. There is no set form for this notice.
After you serve your neighbour with a boundary notice, your neighbour has seven days to mark out where they think the boundary line is. Your neighbour can do this with pegs, or by hiring a registered surveyor. Your neighbour must tell you in writing what they are going to do in response to your boundary notice.
If your neighbour pegs what they think is the boundary line and doesn't arrange a registered surveyor, you can arrange your own registered surveyor to determine the boundary line within one month after giving your written notice.
For more information, see Boundaries on the My problem is about section of our website.
The costs of determining a boundary line, including any costs of a surveyor will usually be shared equally between you and your neighbour. However, if your neighbour pegs out the boundary line in response to your boundary notice, and a registered surveyor confirms your neighbour's markings are correct, your neighbour can claim any costs they have incurred from you.
If your neighbour refuses to share the cost of a survey with you, you should get legal advice.
If your neighbour wants to do fencing work but is not sure of the position of the boundary line, they will need to follow a specific process. They must serve you with a written notice stating that they want to work out where the boundary line is.
When you get this notice, you have seven days to:
If you mark out where you think the boundary line is with pegs or you do nothing for one month after receiving the notice, your neighbour may go ahead and arrange a registered surveyor to survey the boundary line.
If the surveyor defines the boundary line as being in the same position as where you marked out your pegs, you can recover any costs you have incurred from your neighbour.
If, however, the surveyor defines the boundary line as a different position to where you marked out your pegs then you must share the reasonable costs of the survey equally with your neighbour.
If you don't respond to the notice your neighbour has given you and they get the boundary line defined by a registered surveyor, they can ask you to share the costs of the survey with them.
Once it is clear where the boundary is, your neighbour might serve you with a notice to arrange fencing work between your properties.
If a survey shows that the fence has not been built on the boundary line and you have lost land because of this, you can negotiate with your neighbour to move the dividing fence.
You might also be able to recover compensation, but you should get legal advice about this.
You can:
A retaining wall and a dividing fence have different functions.
A dividing fence is generally a structure that:
A retaining wall is commonly located between properties with different ground levels, and:
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or Local Court can make orders about fencing work. NCAT will not hear any matters about retaining walls unless there is supporting evidence that the wall is necessary for the support and maintenance of a dividing fence. You will need supporting evidence from a structural engineer.
Before starting a matter at the Local Court or NCAT, you should also get legal advice.
Your options for arranging work to a retaining wall between you and your neighbour's property will depend on whether the retaining wall is necessary for the support and maintenance of the dividing fence. You will need supporting evidence from a structural engineer. If the work relates to the support and maintenance of a dividing fence, you can follow the procedure set out in the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW).
If the retaining wall doesn't support or maintain the dividing fence, the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) doesn't apply. You can:
Before carrying out work to a retaining well, you should also speak to your Local Council to find out whether you need to apply for a Development Application (DA).
For more information, see Retaining walls on the My problem is about section of our website.
You should get advice from a structural engineer to find out if the retaining wall is needed to support or maintain the dividing fence.
If you are unsure if the retaining wall supports the dividing fence, you should also get legal advice about your situation.
If the retaining wall supports and maintains the dividing fence, you can ask for a share of the cost of the fencing work and retaining wall from your neighbour. Under the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) adjoining owners will generally share the cost of any work needed to the retaining wall if the wall is necessary to support and maintain the dividing fence.
For more information, see Retaining walls on the My problem is about section of the website.
If the retaining wall does not support or maintain the dividing fence, you should get legal advice about your situation. Retaining wall issues are complex. Disputes about retaining walls are heard in the Supreme Court of NSW.
If you need to go on to your neighbour's property to do fencing work, to undertake work on your home or utilities, for example, a sewer line, you can't do this without their consent.
If your neighbour will not give you consent, you can get permission to enter your neighbour's land by applying:
Before you apply for an access order, you must give at least 21 days notice of your intention to lodge an application for an order to:
The notice should set out the terms of the access order you are seeking.
To apply for the access order, you will need to file an Application Notice to the Local Court – General and pay a filing fee. To get a copy of the form, see Forms on the NSW Local Court website.
The Local Court will consider:
For more information, see the factsheet Access to neighbouring land on the NSW Land Registry Services website.
Before applying for an access order, you should try to reach an agreement with your neighbour. The Court will not make an order unless you have made a reasonable effort to settle the dispute.
Last updated: January 2024