Owner Builders and Graoundwater Runoff

Nuisance Run Off Water

16/12/2016

I have just recently had a question from one of our owner builder students in respect to their rights when it cones to water ingress from an adjoing property.

The law and your rights vary slightly from state to state, but the overall approach is reasonably consistent.

Owner Builders need to be aware that council will only act under local legislation when there is a breach in the building code and the design is such that is creates a nuisance to adjoining properties.

Following is an extract from the Queensland Local Government legisaltion. Basically, where design codes and building laws have been follwed, run off water issues and resultatnt disputes or litigation become a civil matter;

Council can also respond to complaints relating to nuisances and flooding as a result of illegal or incorrectly constructed building and structures.

Water flow problems caused by the natural lay of the land, or from overland flow, are a civil matter. If you have an issue with any of the following, you should first speak to your neighbour:

water flow problems caused by natural ground seepage on private property
diverting or blocking the natural flow of water from landscaping, fences and walls or a small trench except where the water collects and becomes stagnant
existing rubble pits are a lawful point of discharge provided they are designed and constructed lawfully. When they overflow it becomes overland flow. Rubble pits are no longer accetped by Council as acceptable lawful points of discharge for any new developments or lot reconfigurations
pool overflow caused by rainfall

Council recommends you take the time to talk to your neighbours about any flooding problems you may be experiencing. In many cases, a resolution can be reached to satisfy everyone’s needs.
Disputes resolutionIf you wish to formally manage discussions, you may also consider contacting the Disputes Resolution Centre. The centre offers free advice and mediation services and can be contacted on 07 3239 6007.

I hope this helps our owner builder students to better understand their legal rights and responsibilities in respect to rainwater and groundwater run off issues.

Thanks and Best Reagrds,

Rick

3 Comments

SHANE MULLIN

1/6/2017 08:52:47

We live in a fairly new estate and our next door neighbor had a pool installed. The blocks behind us that are slightly higher had not been completed yet. During heavy rain fall the pool and yard next door would flood and fill up about 300mm thick with sludge. This happend quite a few times. Council was contacted and the area developer a few times and after a lot of notifying they installed a drain into the storm water up the road and this allowed a lot of the upstream water to flow away. There was also a lot of communication with the persons that were building in the blocks behind us (as there were building) to please ensure they allow for surface drains to assist in removing the water that flowed down on to there land.
In saying this if ever building on a new block I cant stress the importance of in the early stages that yo get out there in the heavy rain fall and ensure any drainage issues can be address as you are building as it is a lot harder/costly after the fact.

Ross Osland link

22/10/2017 20:21:17

During building of our garage by local experienced shed builders, we were stopped from progressing because of risk of soil erosion from water entering our property directly from the neighbours home , risking movements of the fence.
Coincidently , the water was free flowing from their property from a garage construction ( 7 yrs old )with no downpipes and eaves.
Although council acknowledged that, that was the problem , they could do nothing because a DA had been in place and they had not requested an occupancy certificate, so no inspection was necessary, as yet .
Therefore it cost us $2000 in extra concrete & one months lost time .
To this day , the garage next door still has a bucket at the base of the “plastic bag” down pipe .
Being aware of hazards & risks to minimise thus would have helped .

Diane Houston

2/5/2018 18:12:58

Ok, well council has been provided with an engineers report specifically stating that the fence/levee/retaining wall the neighbour has built has cut off the overland water flow into his property, damming us in. He has also built another section on his property to funnel more water onto our property. We will continue to pursue council to do their job like they said they would in January, but in the mean time, I take it all we can do is go civil on the neighbours ass? So I need the specific law that says that what he has done is illegal, or is it just classed as a nuisance? He has broken quite a few laws and its going to be a big project, but this is the only one I am having difficulty narrowing down to a law. any and all info greatly appreciated. :)

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Rick Heaton is a Building and Construction Industry professional with formal tertiary qualifications in management and training.

With over 30 years assisting Owner Builders, he brings an easy style to providing information and advice to our students.

Nuisance Run Off Water

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