Fencing Act 1978

Liability for work on a fence

16: Contribution where immediate work required

You could also call this:

“When a fence needs urgent fixing, you can do it and ask your neighbour to pay half”

If a fence between two properties gets damaged or destroyed suddenly and needs to be fixed right away, you can fix it without telling your neighbour first. You can then ask your neighbour to pay for half of what it cost to fix the fence. This rule is subject to section 17 of the law. This applies whether you or your neighbour is the one who fixes the fence.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM21866.

Topics:
Housing and property > Home safety and repairs
Housing and property > Land use

Previous

15: Effect of change of occupier, or

“When someone moves house, the fence agreement with their neighbour becomes invalid”


Next

17: Liability for damage caused by occupier, or

“If you break a fence while living on the land, you have to pay to fix it”

Part 3 Liability for work on a fence

16Contribution where immediate work required

  1. Subject to the provisions of section 17, if any fence is damaged or destroyed by sudden accident or other cause and requires immediate work, either of the adjoining occupiers may do that work without any notice, and may recover half the cost thereof from the other occupier.

Compare
  • 1908 No 61 s 33