Neighbour dispute, they haven't even moved in yet..

[FrameyMcFrame]

We have new neighbours, they haven't moved in yet as they've been gutting the whole house and building a massive extension.

The water board have now contacted us saying there's a collapsed sewer pipe and they need to dig 1.5 meters deep in our garden to fix it.
The strange thing is that we have absolutely no problem with our service and the previous owners of next door did not have problems.

I'm guessing that the building works have damaged it.
I'd be happy to oblige but the hole is 3 meters long and begins at the base of the trunk of a mature cherry tree. I can't imagine the tree will survive having its roots cut through? But maybe I'm wrong.

IABU to just say no you can't do it? I don't understand why they need to dig up my garden when it's their pipes that have the problem.


I’ve never had a camera routinely put down a drain. Did it once when it was necessary to identify the cause of an obvious leak

We woke up to a garden filled with rising sewage, to the extent that liquid was coming in under thekitched door. (Thankfully the solid element was still outside but we couldn't open the door.)

The problem was a blocked pipe in a garden 4 away from ours. If you're facing a sewage food and shit coming in when you open the door, you're better off losing the tree!

BTW - there's no such thing as 'their' sewage pipes or 'your' sewage pipes. They're sewage pipes and part of a network.

I'd take a hole in the garden over sewage pipes bursting any day

Surely if the sewer is leaking there is an increased risk of subsidence to the properties ( along with garden damage and risk of damage to the tree). I would ask them to be careful with the tree ( and by the sound of it water companies are sensitive to these things). Also do ask about the possible causes , however long term if the damage is there, from what others have said, I am not sure you have much choice. Hope all goes okay.

[I think part of the problem is with defining ‘their’ sewage pipes and ‘your’ sewage pipes. It’s a single system that doesn’t belong to either of you but is provided for your benefit and maintained by the authorities who arguably ‘own’ all of it. I don’t think you have a right to refuse access for repairs, no matter where the land boundary is in relation to the break or how the issue is caused. It’s their right to access it. And it is possible the tree has some part to play in the cause, as it is possible the building works did, too. But none of that really has anything to do with the need to repair it.]

agree with this viewpoint. It is unfortunate but it still needs to be done, hopefully, carefully and in consideration of the cherry tree.

Depending on how you own your property, how old it is, who built it etc, the details of the agreement will vary, but basically the water company has at some point agreed that the mains sewer can run through your garden. This means you have no right to refuse them access to carry out maintenance. This will be in the property deeds somewhere. Your rights to claim for damage to the garden are minimal but they should re-instate what they dig up to the same standard as is already there. I wouldn't think they will compensate for the tree.

It is highly unlikely the neighbour's building work caused the damage. 1.5m is really deep and the trench will have protection so unless a JCB has hit the pipe whilst digging its likely the pipe has been collapsing for a while. Possibly caused by tree root damage.

The fact you haven't experienced problems is irrelevant as a collapsed sewer can still function as long as it isn't totally blocked. It can take months and months before a collapse causes any problems Anyone downstream of the collapse wouldn't notice a problem.

You are adding 2 & 2 and coming up with 5. That it has just been found, doesn't make it the fault of the building work.

Whatever issue you have with your neighbours' extension, don't let it affect your relationship. If the extension was truly massive, presumably you had the opportunity to object?

I have bought many houses and it certainly has never been standard to send a camera down to check the pipes.

Standard practice prior to building works.

Well I'd be cautious on the basis of the cherry tree so would be asking for details and making sure they absolutely need to do it.

It does sound like they've already caused you quite a few issues...

Their building work has unlikely to have caused it, more like they have seen it because of doing the work. Our building work uncovered pipe problems which had nothing to do with us and was actually caused by the neighbours shoddy extension but to an outsider it probably looked like we was at fault. Like pp said it might be your tree causing it so I wouldn't start kicking up too much fuss or you may get landed with a bill. Also i would be keen to get it sorted even at the expense of a tree, sewage going into your home will be devastating!

Tell them they'll have to consult with a tree surgeon before doing anything. The tree deserves to be kept alive.

I think OP would be foolish of OP to assume it's her cherry tree roots causing an issue. Of course she wants to know what caused the damage and whether it was due to neighbours extension, as the damage is on the boundary between her and the neighbour.

I think some people give advice on here that they wouldn't follow themselves.

1.5m is really deep and the trench will have protection so unless a JCB has hit the pipe whilst digging its likely the pipe has been collapsing for a while. Possibly caused by tree root damage.

1.5m is not deep, considering the builders would have had to dig into the ground by at least 1m

If it's sewer pipes then it's not a case of theirs and yours, it's shared. (well that's the case in most common layouts)

Part H3 of the Building Regulations in England & Wales and Part M of the Building Standards Regulations in Scotland.

It’s likely the problem has only just come to light, you need to let them fix it.

Is the garden already dug up in preparation for works? Or have they built over it? Maybe they want the work done on your side because they don't want to ruin their garden/work?

It's something that has to be done! WHy are you being difficult?

RTFT @Fortunefave

Perhaps the OP has been living next to a noisy, dirty building site for months and is wondering why her garden has to be dug up rather than the neighbour's in order to fix what appears to be a non-issue as far as she is concerned? Perhaps the new neighbours have not endeared themselves by getting contractors/the water company to contact the OP rather than communicating with her themselves?

Exactly wowfudge!

I can't imagine the water board has come over and said "oh look, this works needs doing on your side, but you've just had the garden done, so we'll make it harder for ourselves and dig over there instead."

The water board will be choosing where they dig, not the neighbours, and I can assure you that if they'd put their extension over the top of where they needed to dig, then the extension would be coming down (and woe betides them if their insurance wasn't up to scratch). Happened to neighbours of my gran. Caused many happy hours of gossiping and watching for her and her friends.

If they're saying they need to dig on your property then it's highly likely that they is where the leak is, and very unlikely it's been caused by their building work.

Well, its worth checking if digging up your garden is actually necessary. We had a burst water pipe a few years ago and they Opted to dig up our garden and destroy a lot of mature planting because it was easier and cheaper for them than digging up the pavement, where the leak actually was.
They compensated us v generously inthe end.

I think it is the way things are ' gone about ' that can also cause problems. I had new neighbours and they built a huge extension and completely gutted the entire house. They moved out during all of this, whilst I had to put up with the intrusion of builders overlooking my garden all Summer and banging for 12 months. Never once when they moved in a few months earlier did they give me any notice of any intended works, I just received the prospective plans through the post for the council. Had it not been for my eagle eyed elderly neighbour asking me if I objected to them moving my garden wall I would not have realised that they planned to demolish it and move it forward! Several months later she rang me one morning and told me they were in my front garden chopping down by tree which was on the boundary line where they planned to widen their drive. I am not one for confrontation or swearing but I saw my ass that day.

crimsonlake I'm not bloody surprised you saw red!

@crimsonlake did the tree come down?!

I need to know what happened next @crimsonlake!