QLD: Who’s responsible for fences dividing courtyards and common property?

Question: Who is responsible for fences dividing courtyards and common property?

We live in a tower block that is classified as a building format plan. Units at the base of the building have courtyards. The courtyards are not classified as exclusive use, so the boundary of the lot is also the boundary of the courtyard.

There is common property space on the other side of the courtyards. Who is responsible for the fences that divide the courtyards and the common property?

Answer: The body corporate and lot owner are jointly responsible, unless one party caused the deterioration.

The Neighbourhood Disputes (Dividing Fences and Trees) Act 2011 (Qld) (Act) regulates fence ownership and liability for fencing work. The Act provides that:

1. where a dividing fence is situated on the common boundary of adjoining lands, the owners for that land are each liable for the equal contribution of fencing work; and


2. an ‘owner’ is defined to mean:
   1. if the land is a lot recorded in the freehold land register, the registered owner of the lot; and
   
   
   2. if the land is scheme land under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld), the body corporate.

As the courtyard comprises part of the lot, the starting position is that the body corporate and the lot owner will each be jointly responsible for the dividing fence which separates the lot (i.e., courtyard) and the common property. However, if there is evidence that a party contributed to the deterioration of the dividing fence, the offending party may be liable to make a greater contribution towards the fencing works.

This post appears in the September 2026 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.

Liam Boudin Mahoneys E: lboudin@mahoneys.com.au P: 07 3007 3724