I have had a drain fitted in front of my garage, and my neighbour is moaning that the water is now running

Question

into her drive and garage when i rains, my work has all been done by a proper builder, and i hope all regs adhered to, do i have anything to worry about? can she report me to the local council for it.

Answer 1

was this inspected by the building dept? and yes you can always report anything to the local council

Answer 2

Surely the best option is to talk to your neighbour and come up with an agreed solution, you both need to live next door to each other and you never know when you may need the neighbours help.

Answer 3

All underground Sewage and Surface water disposal resources belongs to the local council, and to break into one of these without the authority of the council is an offence and you can be prosecuted for it, as well as having to remove it and repair the mains. Your "proper" builder should know this. This lady has a legitimate case, if what she claims is true. What I cannot understand is, the purpose of a "Drain" is to dispose of surface water, but in this case the opposite is happening.....Check out your "proper" builder.

Answer 4

If it is running into her garage, then she does have a complaint.

Answer 5

She has a problem.  That doesn't necessarily mean that you are the cause of it.  

If the drain was badly constructed so that it is flooding her garage, she has a cause to complain.  She can sue you but you can claim against the builder.

If the water from her land previously drained into yours, but can no longer do so because you now have a higher driveway, that's her problem.  She needs to find a way of draining the water from her land.  I'm sure you could recommend a builder!

Answer 6

Yes she can, have a look when it rains and see if it is affecting her property. If so then she has the right to go to the council if your builder does not fix it.

Answer 7

Where does the rainfall from 'your' drain go?

is it to a Soakaway, or into a Local authority Drain?

Tell your builder, without accusing him, and ask if he has any logical suggestions. Did he prevent rain from her side coming into your drain and now she has the drainage problem...

Maybe the drain below her is partly blocked and the rainfall backing up....

Many possible answers, not all of which include shoddy workmanship or negligence.

Answer 8

yes, you cannot divert surface rain water off your property onto a neighbours.

You should have installed grids along the boundary and taken the water to a soakaway or surface water mains drainage system

The council might want a word about building regs. But the wider impilcation is one of a civil prosecution, that would be more trouble than the council

Answer 9

if you have diverted the rain water into your next doors drive then you DIDNT have a proper builder. the outlet from the drain obviously hasnt been connected to anything. get them back because the rainwater should be either connected to an existing storm drain or a new soakaway at least 5 mtrs from the house. if my neighbour had a drain bodged in and my garage was flooding due to this then i would go ape!