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Elite Edition

Who pays for adjoining fences?

Author

Robert Bradley

Published Apr 04, 2026

Who pays for adjoining fences?

The Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) provides that adjoining owners are required to share equally the cost of a “sufficient dividing fence”. If there is a dispute about the standard of fencing, one neighbour must give the other a fencing notice and disputes are heard in the local court.

Who is responsible for fence between 2 houses?

A T mark on one side of the boundary indicates that the person on that side is responsible for the fence. If there’s a T on both sides of the boundary, this is called a party boundary, which means both you and your neighbour are responsible for it.

Who is responsible for the construction of a fence?

However, a fence or part of a fence built on one neighbour’s land is owned by that neighbour, even if the other neighbour contributed to the cost of construction of the fence. Who is responsible for a dividing fence?

Who is responsible for the cost of a dividing fence?

As a general rule, neighbouring property owners are each responsible for paying half the cost of erecting or repairing a dividing fence between their lands. Can my neighbour and I make our own agreement about constructing a dividing fence? Yes, you can, and it’s a good idea for you to do that.

Do you have to pay for a neighbour’s fence?

If a property owner installs a fence completely on their side of the property line, the fence is theirs. And so is the bill for it. If the fence is on the property line, the neighbours on either side are, legally, equal partners in the fence. Generally, each must pay half the cost of building or repairing the fence.

Can a fence be built on a common boundary line?

If it is built on the common boundary line, a dividing fence is owned equally by the adjoining neighbours. However, a fence, or part of a fence, built on one neighbour’s land is owned by that neighbour, even if the other neighbour helped pay for the fence. You should be careful to build your fence on the boundary if you are paying half the cost.

Can a landowner share responsibility for a division fence?

Adjoining landowners share equal responsibility for “division fences”—fences on the boundary line between two properties that physically lie on both owners’ properties. The law does not apply to fences that are completely within the property of one of the two landowners. [1]

Who is responsible for the cost of a fence?

If a fence is located on the land of only one landowner, the neighbor is not legally responsible for any portion of the fence cost, unless the parties agree otherwise. Note that if a fence is a “division fence”, neither adjoining owner can move or alter the division fence without the other owner’s consent.

Can a neighbor be responsible for a fence?

The law does not apply to fences that are completely within the property of one of the two landowners. [1] If a fence is located on the land of only one landowner, the neighbor is not legally responsible for any portion of the fence cost, unless the parties agree otherwise.

Who is responsible for maintaining a fence in California?

Under California law, landowners and their adjoining neighbors are jointly responsible for constructing, maintaining, and replacing fences that divide their properties. While the legislature enacted some procedural changes to the law under the Good Neighbor Fence Act of 2013, the spirit of the original law remains the same.