Arky Design Permits is encouraging anyone planning to build on the boundary of a property to make sure they accurately identify the title boundary line to avoid encroaching on an adjacent property.

Any encroachment may be considered a trespass of land.

“Encroachment could result in the adjacent landowner taking the property owner to court to seek to have the encroachment removed

There appears to be some confusion around this matter, with some people thinking that Section 272 of the
Property Law Act 1958 allows for a 50mm or 1/500 tolerance (depending on the boundary length) for buildings to encroach over the title boundary.

The purpose of this legislation is to limit claims of minor contradictions regarding the sale of land. It provides only a margin of error for dimensions. That is appearing on title documentation, such as a plan of subdivision. It does not allow for a margin of error for site boundary dimensions determined from ‘on-ground’ measurements.

“Given the potential outcomes of encroachment over the title boundary, we recommend getting your local builder, designer to engage a licensed land surveyor to carry out a re-establishment survey before beginning any building work on the boundary.

Note: Only a licensed land surveyor can supply a re-establishment survey. So make sure that they have a license.