Neighbouring Development Affected Some of My Property during Demolition Phase, How to Approach This?

[Deactivated] on 01/04/2016 - 06:29
Last edited 01/04/2016 - 07:11

A neighbour is redeveloping their block and the people performing the demolition ended up cracking some brickwork of my retaining wall and have also completely ripped off guttering from my garage which faces that side of the block. Just wondering how I should approach this in order to find someone who will be responsible for rectifying this. I'm actually more concerned about the brickwork as the guttering rusting anyway and was planning to replace it sooner or later, but still it's now an issue simply because of this development.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue and managed to have things successfully rectified? I suspect the demolition guys are a different company to the builders who would be history now with no intention of fixing the retaining wall, so finding out the builder isn't going to help me. I've literally been given nobody's details to contact in case of any issue. I do know who the drafting company are and based on their Facebook page they have a close relationship to the ongoing developments they look after as they always provide updates regarding them. My intended approach is to get on their case tomorrow to see if they can chase it up, but not expecting them to exactly bend over backwards to help.

General Discussion

Comments

  • eatwell365 on 01/04/2016 - 06:52

    what does the council say if you have made a complInt?

    • [Deactivated] on 01/04/2016 - 06:58

      I'll contact them today. There's also another matter which is that the lie of the land is about 10cm higher on the neighbouring block and the earth moving after demolition has pushed the soil through the sleepers in the fence (fence starts where the retaining wall ends). The sleepers themselves were rotting so it's not really a new issue, but exacerbated now and I can't be sure that the earth was already elevated as much as it now is on the other side of the block. So in reality my retaining wall is going to need extending so I will need to speak to council as to whether that should be a shared cost or if I need to bear it myself.

      • Geewhizz on 01/04/2016 - 07:03

        If they have altered the height of their land then they have to be responsible for it, surely.

        This whole issue is probably something you should deal with sooner rather than later, to give them time to recify before they have left.

        • [Deactivated] on 01/04/2016 - 07:17

          Well the demolition guys are long gone now, and I only noticed this after they left. They seem like fly by night operations these guys, start work early and history by the time I am home from work.

          This is a pain since I will be overseas for two weeks from Tuesday! So in all likelihood I am going to have some fun sucked out of my trip on calls made to various parties trying to resolve this.

        • eatwell365 on 01/04/2016 - 07:22

          @w8: video whenever you can with your phone, upload to cloud or YouTube private as evidence.

        • eatwell365 on 01/04/2016 - 07:24

          @w8: demolition would be subcontracted - complaint earlier before bill is paid, would be better for you and your neighbour,

          glad you are not in Sydney, so not complaining about me. Please go ahead,

        • subywagon on 01/04/2016 - 10:55
          +1

          @w8: I think you are looking at the responsibility all wrong. Who ever is in charge of the whole operation is responsible. Sure on a sub-level the demo guys are responsible, but that will be up to whoever is in charge to chase down, not you.

          I wouldn't let any of the issues slide. Sure the gutter may have been rusty, or the sleepers rotting, but they are your property and they should not have been destroyed and you shouldn't be pushed to repair/replace them due to their activities.

          I'd talk to the council and talk to the builders to find out who is in charge.

          If all else fails, there's always bikies ;)

        • [Deactivated] on 01/04/2016 - 12:16

          @subywagon: Yeah, have started at council. They gave me the number of the company overseeing the project and trying to get the right person.

  • Flowerbomb on 01/04/2016 - 07:03
    +1

    Damn this makes me cross seeing you are out of pocket. Chase them till the end. That's why they have insurance for.

  • slow on 01/04/2016 - 07:59

    I had a similar issue, and took it up with my neighbour - I took the line that it is his development so he is responsible. If he cant get the builder to fix it then he needs to pay

    Fortunately he was reasonable and agreed with my case, so he took it up and harassed the builder until they fixed it

  • oscargamer on 01/04/2016 - 08:45

    take photos to document damage, then talk to neighbour

  • hothed on 01/04/2016 - 08:58

    Usually before a development starts the builder will do a dilapidation survey. (Use your google-fu if you dont know what it is).

    They will rectify the damage but will probably wait until towards the end of the construction phase in case it gets damaged again.

  • Slippery Fish on 01/04/2016 - 09:09

    Lol why would you chase numbers. Ask your neighbour, unless you are the anoying whinge about every little thing kind of neighbour they will be happy to help so as to not have future issues.

    If that doesnt work go see a lawyer as the people doing work must ensure they do not adversely affect neighbouring propertys. If they had a pipe burst and it flooded you they would need to fix it, same deal.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/04/2016 - 10:00

      "Lol why would you chase numbers". Life isn't always so simple. The neighbour hasn't ever physically lived there, I have no details for them. They bought the block about 2 years ago, and lodged plans with council to redevelop, and now the development is starting. They briefly introduced themselves maybe 6 months+ ago and haven't been seen since. They slipped a note in the mail regarding the build starting about a week ago which conveniently didn't include any contact details. And remember the place is demolished, it's not like I can slip them a note in their now non existing letterbox.

      I've now discussed this with the council and they advised me to first contact the surveyor who are overseeing the project, so provided me with their number. I had to leave the person handling the demolition a message so will see how helpful / otherwise they are shortly. In the meantime the council directed me to a form where I can obtain the owner details for the neighbouring block, which I will go ahead and do, and will also chase them up about this. According to council, I will need to speak to them separately about the fencing issue I mentioned above.

      • Slippery Fish on 02/04/2016 - 10:07

        Oh bugger… Thats not a good situation.

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