Legal Project Management Plan & Checklist
Purpose of this Guide: Use this plan when a property owner in New South Wales wants to compel their neighbour to contribute to the cost of building, replacing, or repairing a dividing fence. The Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) requires owners on each side of a common boundary to share the cost of a fence that is sufficient for the locality, split equally 50/50. Before any formal application can be made, a written Section 11 Fencing Notice must be served on the adjoining owner and a full calendar month must pass without an agreement being reached. An adjoining owner is not liable to contribute to work carried out before the notice is served (s 11(5)), unless the urgent work provision (s 9) applies or the Local Court or NCAT gives leave to serve a late notice (s 22).
Jurisdiction: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) Consumer and Commercial Division, or NSW Local Court. Either owner may apply to the Local Court or NCAT under section 12(2) of the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW), and section 13 gives each jurisdiction. NCAT is preferred for residential disputes between NSW-resident parties. The Local Court is mandatory where the respondent lives in another Australian state, as NCAT lacks federal diversity jurisdiction.
Use this fork after NCAT has already made a Section 14 fencing order specifying that the respondent must carry out certain fencing work (or contribute to its cost), but the respondent has simply ignored the order and not complied. NCAT's fencing orders are not automatically enforceable as money judgments - if the respondent ignores an order to carry out physical works, the applicant cannot immediately enforce it through the courts. Instead, the applicant must return to NCAT and file a Renewal Application under Schedule 4, Clause 8 of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW). The renewal converts the unperformed work order into a monetary equivalent order, which can then be registered in the Local Court as an enforceable judgment debt.
Use this fork when the adjoining owner disputes the physical location of the common boundary during the one-month Section 11 Notice response window. Before any fencing work can proceed, the true boundary must be established. Section 18 of the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) creates a specific procedure: the initiating owner serves a Section 18 Boundary Notice, the receiving owner then has 7 days to either place boundary pegs (if they know the boundary) or engage a registered surveyor. If the receiving owner fails to act, the initiating owner may engage a surveyor. Who pays the survey costs depends on whether the surveyor's determination matches the position the respondent claimed.
Use this fork when a dividing fence has been damaged or destroyed suddenly - for example by a fallen tree, a vehicle collision, a storm, or a fire - and the situation is so urgent that waiting for the one-month Section 11 Notice response window would cause further loss or leave a property unsecured. Section 9 of the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) creates a specific exception for these situations: where urgent fencing work is required and it is impracticable to serve a notice, one owner can carry out the urgent fencing work required to restore the fence without first serving a notice, and the other owner is liable for half the cost (or more if s 8 applies). Section 9 sets no one-month or 28-day limit on the claim for the contribution; the one month in s 9(4) is the time the other owner has to apply for a review of that liability.
The Process at a Glance: Verify the title ownership of both properties through NSW Land Registry Services. Draft and serve the Section 11 Fencing Notice with at least two competitive contractor quotes attached. Wait the mandatory one-month response period. If no agreement is reached, select the correct forum based on the respondent's state of residence. File the application with the NCAT online portal or Local Court registry. Attend mandatory conciliation on the first return date. If conciliation fails, proceed to a contested hearing where a Scott Schedule of contested works is tendered. Obtain binding orders under section 14 specifying the fencing work, materials, timeline, and cost apportionment.
Key Legislation and Case Law: Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW): s 3 (definitions - fence, fencing work, adjoining owners), s 4 (sufficient dividing fence standard), s 7 (equal contribution liability and exceptions for above-standard fences), s 8 (liability for negligent or deliberate damage), s 9 (urgent fencing work without a notice; the other owner may apply within 1 month after completion for review of the liability), s 11 (Notice to Carry Out Fencing Work - mandatory condition precedent), s 12(2) (if the owners do not agree within 1 month after service of the notice, either may apply to the Local Court or NCAT), s 13 (jurisdiction of the Local Court and NCAT), s 14 (binding fencing orders), s 18 (boundary definition procedure), s 21 (service of notices), s 22 (leave to serve a notice up to 12 months after the work was carried out). Real Property Act 1900 (NSW) s 14A (Registrar-General boundary determination), s 45D(2A) (12-year possessory title). Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Schedule 4 cl 8 (NCAT renewal application for unenforced work orders). NCAT Procedural Direction 3 (Expert Evidence), Procedural Direction 7 (Use of Generative AI).
* Disclaimer: We're nobody's lawyer, because we aren't lawyers. You are, so you know better than to take legal advice from an app. We also aren't accountants or dog trainers - just digital spirit guides taking zero liability for any of this. This site exists to gather the collective knowledge of practitioners like you. Verify everything and submit your feedback on the Dividing Fences Dispute - Applicant (NSW) matter plan to improve the playbook. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, it's a request for input.
This legal matter plan provides a structured workflow for Property Disputes cases, outlining the standard Tribunal/Court Application process. Utilize these tracking templates to manage your legal cases efficiently.
| Field | Token | Type | Required | Defined in |
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| Matter(4) | ||||
| Matter numberⓘ | matter.matterNumber | text | Required | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter title | matter.title | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter typeⓘ | matter.matterType | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter status | matter.status | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Client(1) | ||||
| Client name | matter.clientName | text | Required | inheritedmatter-core |
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