Back off my boundary!
When considering renovations to a property, there are typically requirements in place that stipulate how far a building must be from a road or a boundary wall.
Regulations regarding the building and renovation of properties vary from municipality to municipality and are dealt with by the Town Planning or Building Department. The specific values of the required distances between buildings and boundaries will vary slightly based on the local by-laws and the details should be obtained from the local council. In some cases, there is no minimum distance in which case a building can be erected right on the boundary line, while in other situations, a building must be three metres or more from the boundary.
It is important to remember that any building or renovation should be approved before any work is commenced to avoid costly and time-consuming delays or changes.
In addition, it must be noted that the requirements and regulations will depend on a number of factors. These include the building type (e.g. whether the building is a residential home, an out-building, or a garage), the zoning of the property (e.g. whether the building is for residential or commercial use) and any special allowances applied for and approved (e.g. whether the owner applied to build closer to the boundary wall than typically allowed and this was agreed to by the neighbours and approved by the council).
This information is freely available from the relevant council and it is recommended that anyone looking at building or extending a structure access this information before proceeding with any plans.
Written by Wessel de Kock
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