Regulation
Who is responsible for a retaining wall on a boundary?
Queensland’s 
dividing fences legislation covers fences and trees, and says in so many words that a fence isn't a retaining wall. The 
Queensland Government’s own guide says the same. Retaining wall disputes are decided on common law, case by case, which is why you get a different answer from everybody you ask.
Responsibility follows the benefit. That's the thread through all of it.
- If you cut into your land and need to hold your neighbour’s soil at its natural level, the wall is usually yours
- If you filled your land and need to hold the added soil, the wall is usually yours
- A wall wholly inside one property usually sits with that owner, though who benefits from it can still change the answer
- A wall straddling the boundary may be shared, depending on who it benefits
If there's money or a neighbour in dispute, get legal advice. We build walls, we don't settle boundaries. What we can tell you is whether the wall needs 
approval either way. What we can do is come out, measure the levels, and tell you factually which side the ground was cut or filled on, which is usually the thing the argument is actually about.
- Neighbourhood Disputes (Dividing Fences and Trees) Act 2011 (Qld), section 11A fence isn't a retaining wall
- Queensland Government, your responsibility as a fence ownerRetaining walls aren't classed as fences
- Advii Law, retaining wall disputes in QueenslandDecided on judge made principles, case by case
- BCG Law, retaining walls and common neighbour disputesCommon law, and walls on a boundary
- Cohen Legal, retaining wall disputesCut, fill and who benefits
Walls don't fail because the sleepers were wrong
Water gets behind the wall and has nowhere to go. Everything else is a symptom.
What a retaining wall costs, and why the quotes are thousands apart
Published Australian rates by material, and the seven lines that decide whether a quote is real.
Tell us about the block
Six short questions, about two minutes. Brittany rings you back, then Jake comes out and measures it. Quotes are locked for 30 days, with no builder variations.
