With more and more people doing renovations to their properties themselves, questions arise about the boundary walls and the regulations in the municipal bylaws concerning these walls.
Review spoke to a municipal building inspector who did not wish to be named, about the factors that should be taken into account when building a boundary wall.
According to the building inspector, garden and boundary walls should be inspected from time to time to see if any repairs are necessary and if the wall needs rebuilding.
Review also spoke to Jannie Griesel, a building contractor in Polokwane. According to Griesel, besides the general deterioration and ageing of a masonry wall over the years, walls are also affected by contributing factors, including:
• An increase in wind load or driving rain if a nearby wall is taken down which once formed part of a complete enclosure;
• Felling of nearby mature trees or planting of new trees close to a wall;
• Changes like moving a wall too close to the road surface leading to greater risk of damage from traffic; and
• Alterations such as adding to a wall or the removal of parts of a wall. Example: a new gate.
“If these factors are monitored, it will decrease the risk of damage to private, municipal or a neighbour’s property. If a high boundary wall has deep cracks in it, chances are that the home on that stand will be damaged should the wall fall over due to deterioration,” Griesel said.
According to Griesel, any boundary wall can be built from 1,8m to 2,5m in height. Should the homeowner want the wall to be higher, an engineer must evaluate the thickness and building material of the wall to qualify if it would be safe to build to the required height.
“Each municipality has its own discretion on how buildings and enclosures should be built. The importance of the matter lies in the qualifying of a building or enclosure outside the normal specification by an engineer and its team in or outside of the municipality to assure safety.”
Griesel said the public should be aware of the following:
• If the brickwork of the wall is crumbling, but the crumbling is only restricted to a few bricks, it may not be serious. However, walls can be weakened by general crumbling of the wall.
• If you are able to remove the hard surface layer from the joining points or if the mortar can be easily scraped off with a piece of soft metal, this is a good indication that the wall needs new plastering.
• If nearby tree roots are cracking the wall or hanging branches are leaning against the wall, the wall is at risk.
• The removal of a mature tree can cause soft loose soil that can make a wall lean or fall over.
• Cracked and leaking drains will deteriorate the foundation of the wall.
• If your wall leans to an extent that it could present a danger (30mm for a half brick wall, 70mm for a single brick wall), get an engineer’s advice.
• Minor scratches or scarring to the surface of the wall may obscure more significant cracks.
