Under the Fencing Act 1978 your neighbour is generally liable for half the cost of an adequate dividing fence. The split is rarely the problem. What catches people out is skipping the formal fencing notice, which is the step that makes the obligation enforceable if your neighbour later refuses to pay.
This comes up on almost every fencing quote, and the answer is simpler than people expect. The cost split is not usually where it goes wrong.
The short version
Under the Fencing Act 1978, your neighbour is generally liable for half the cost of an adequate dividing fence. You do not need their enthusiasm, and you do not need them to like your choice of timber.
What you do need is to follow the process. The obligation is real, but it becomes difficult to enforce if you skipped the step that creates the paper trail.
What “adequate” means
This is the word that does the work, and it is deliberately not a fixed specification. An adequate fence is one that is reasonable in the circumstances, which takes into account things like:
- Whether the properties are urban or rural
- The size and use of each property
- How close the houses sit to the boundary
- Any covenants on the titles
- What the existing fence, if there is one, is already doing
The practical effect is that your neighbour is liable for half of a sensible fence, not half of whatever you fancy. If you want something more expensive than adequate, you can usually still have it, but expect to cover the difference.
The step people skip
Here is where it actually goes wrong. Someone has a friendly chat over the fence, the neighbour says “yeah, sounds good”, the fence gets built, and then the invoice arrives and the neighbour has changed their mind or sold the house.
The formal step is a fencing notice. It is a written notice served under the Act which sets out:
- That it is served under the Fencing Act 1978
- The names and addresses of both parties
- The boundary and what you propose to do
- The type of fence and who will do the work
- The estimated total cost
- When you intend to start
- That if they do not respond within 21 days they are treated as having agreed
It has to be served properly, which means personally or by registered post rather than dropped in the letterbox.
What happens after you serve it
Two outcomes:
They object. They have 21 days to serve a cross-notice setting out what they object to and what they would prefer instead. You negotiate from there. If you cannot agree, fencing disputes go to the Disputes Tribunal.
They do nothing. If no cross-notice comes back inside 21 days, they are generally treated as having agreed to the proposal, cost sharing included.
That second outcome is the whole reason to bother with the notice. Silence counts in your favour, but only if you served something for them to be silent about.
Being realistic about neighbours
All of that is the legal backstop, not the opening move. In practice the fences that go smoothly are the ones where someone knocked on the door first, showed a couple of options and a rough price, and then followed up in writing.
A few things that help:
- Talk before you serve anything. A notice landing out of nowhere reads as hostile even when it is not meant to be.
- Offer a choice. People object far less to a fence they helped pick.
- Put the friendly version in writing anyway. Agreeing by text is not a fencing notice, but it is a lot better than nothing.
- Remember it moves with the property. If either of you sells mid-process, you are dealing with someone new.
Where to check the detail
I build fences, I am not a lawyer, and the specifics of your boundary may not match the general position. Worth reading before you commit:
- The Fencing Act 1978 itself on legislation.govt.nz
- The Community Law Manual chapter on fences
- Consumer NZ on fencing law
- Tasman District Council for anything to do with height or consent
What I can help with
I quote the work either way. The cost sharing is between you and your neighbour, but a written quote with a clear scope is usually what a fencing notice gets built around, so it is a sensible first step even if you have not spoken to them yet.
I build new boundary fences, palings, pickets and post and rail, plus repairs, gates and staining across Nelson, Richmond, Motueka and Māpua. Have a look at fencing services, or get a free quote and I will come and measure up.
Worth reading next: Deck repair or replace?, which applies the same logic to the other big timber structure on most properties.