How do you delimit your property?

How do I define my property lines?

Defining the limits of your property is not always easy. If, when you go around "the owner", you can't find the boundary markers in the ground, you will surely have to resort to the services of an expert surveyor, so that there is no ambiguity with the neighborhood. He will intervene on site to measure and mark out the land. To do so, he relies on different documents :

• property titles,
• plans,
• descriptive documents of property,
• witness statements,
• land registry documents (which only have an informative value)...

Once all the elements have been gathered, he will materialize the limits of your property by placing markers. You will then be able to fence your land in accordance with the defined limits. Ideally, you should agree with your neighbor to share the boundary marking costs. Moreover, it is important to know that any owner is entitled to demand the demarcation of his parcel in order to delimit his property in relation to the adjoining neighboring properties (art. 646 of the Civil Code). This delimitation is generally done amicably. It is sufficient to contact a surveyor who will draw up a demarcation report signed by all the parties concerned. This report will then be filed with the notary for publication at the land registry office. If one or more of your neighbors refuse to sign, you will have no other solution than to go to court. This will be a judicial demarcation. So be careful not to cross the line!

I want to fence my land: do I have to talk to my neighbor first?

According to article 647 of the Civil Code, any owner can fence his property. You can close your land with a wall, a hedge, a fence, within the limits of your property or straddling your land and that of your neighbor. This will be a private fence or a common fence.

• In the case of a private fence, you will have more freedom, as you will not have to consult your neighbor. However, you must respect any easements that may exist and not abuse the right to fence your land (for example, by depriving your neighbor of sunlight).
• In the case of a joint fence, you must first reach an agreement with your neighbor. If he does not agree, the fence will have to be placed on your land, otherwise its demolition may be requested.

Moreover, when you wish to fence your land, there are no particular formalities to be done. However, in certain areas, you may be required to file a prior declaration of work. This may be the case, for example, in a sector delimited by the PLU or in the vicinity of a historical monument.

When you build a common wall, who pays the costs and takes care of the maintenance ?

A wall is common when it is shared by two neighbors. This is called forced co-ownership because this state of indivision is in principle perpetual. Thus, you can perfectly agree with your neighbor to delimit the respective properties by building, at joint expense, a fence or a wall on the dividing line between the properties. This wall will then be a common wall. It is also possible to acquire by mutual agreement the common ownership of a wall already built, by notarial act. A survey document, established by a surveyor, will then be necessary to move the dividing line.
The maintenance expenses of a common wall must be shared between you and your neighbor. For minor work, each of you will generally be responsible for your side of the wall. For more substantial work, it is better to consult each other and reach an agreement before starting. Otherwise, you run the risk that he will refuse to participate in the costs!

Stéphanie Swiklinski