Your neighbour has mowed, planted and fenced a strip of lawn on your side of what you assumed was the line, and someone at the barbecue has just said the words “adverse possession”. You’re now deciding whether to say something, do nothing or spend money on a survey. This article is about making that call with facts instead of a scare.
Adverse possession in SA is a legal question, and this site isn’t a law firm, so we’ll be plain about what we can and can’t tell you. What we can do is lay out what the South Australian government, the Surveyors Board and the Fences Act actually say, and show where a survey fits. If you want a written quote from an independent Licensed Surveyor, tell us what the survey is for and we’ll put you in touch with one.
What people mean by adverse possession in South Australia
The phrase gets used loosely for one worry: that a neighbour who occupies part of your land for long enough might end up owning it. It’s a fair worry, because plenty of Adelaide fences sit a little off the line and stay there for decades.
Here’s the honest limit. How that idea works, or whether it works at all, against a registered South Australian title is a legal question. None of the government and regulator sources this site relies on sets out the test, so we’re not going to guess at one. A conveyancer or lawyer can tell you how the law applies to your title and your facts.
What the sources do give us is a few solid, checkable points:
- The boundary is a fact on the ground. SA Government says a property boundary “defines legal ownership of land and its position can only be determined by a licensed surveyor”.
- Fences and boundaries don’t always match. The Surveyors Board SA says “Major discrepancies between boundaries and fencing are not uncommon and can sometimes be very difficult to rectify.”
- The Fences Act 1975 speaks to adverse possession directly in one situation, covered in the next section.
- Structures that cross the line have their own legal route, covered after that.
Everything else in this article is about finding out which of those situations you are actually in.
What the Fences Act says about a fence built off the line
Section 17 of the Fences Act 1975 is the one place in our sources where adverse possession is mentioned by name. Where a dividing fence is built off the boundary under an agreement or a court order, neither owner is deemed to be in adverse possession of any of the other’s land, so as to acquire title to it, by reason of occupying the land the fence encloses.
Read that carefully, because it’s narrow. It covers a fence built off the line under an agreement or court order. It doesn’t, in the sources we hold, say anything about a fence that drifted, was built by a previous owner without any paperwork, or was put up on a guess.
So if you and a neighbour agreed years ago to tuck the fence a metre inside one block to dodge a tree root, section 17 is relevant. If nobody can say how the fence got there, you’re in a different situation, and the useful move is to find out where the boundary is before anyone argues about what a fence means.
The Fences Act also gives you a set process for dealing with a fence problem:
- A new fence starts with a Form 1 notice stating the length, position, type, cost estimate and the share you are seeking.
- A neighbour has 30 days to serve a cross-notice, and doesn’t have to give a reason.
- The Magistrates Court can decide “the line of fence to be adopted”, award compensation for loss of occupation where a fence is not on the boundary, and order removal of a fence not erected on the proper boundary.
Our guide to the Fences Act and boundary fences walks through the notices step by step.
Adverse possession or encroachment: which problem do you have?
Most owners who search for adverse possession in SA actually have one of two problems. They aren’t the same, and they go to different places.
A fence in the wrong place. The dispute is about where the dividing fence should stand. Fencing disputes go to the Magistrates Court. The Legal Services Commission adds that “a court is unlikely to order the relocation of a fence if the deviation from the boundary is minor”, which is worth knowing before you spend money chasing a few centimetres.
A structure that crosses the line. SA Government describes an encroachment as a structure that intrudes onto another person’s land, crossing the legal boundary, and says it can include buildings, driveways, eaves and balconies. Encroachment disputes go to the Supreme Court, and section 4 of the Encroachments Act 1944 lets either the adjacent owner or the encroaching owner apply to the Land and Valuation Court for relief.
| Situation | Where it is decided | What a survey adds | Who advises on the outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fence built off the line by agreement or court order | Fences Act s 17 sets the adverse possession rule for this case | Shows how far off the line the fence sits | Conveyancer or lawyer |
| Fence disagreement, no agreement | Magistrates Court (line of fence, removal, compensation) | Shows where the boundary is, so the notice and any claim rest on fact | Legal Services Commission, lawyer |
| Eave, wall, shed or driveway over the line | Supreme Court; either owner can apply to the Land and Valuation Court (Encroachments Act s 4) | Shows whether the structure crosses and by how much | Lawyer |
| Neighbour occupies a strip, no fence or structure agreed | A legal question our sources do not answer | Shows where the title boundary runs against what is occupied | Conveyancer or lawyer first |
The pattern in every row is the same. The legal question comes second. The first question is where the boundary actually is, and only a Licensed Surveyor can answer that. Someone on the internet can’t, and neither can a fence line that looks straight.
Three situations that trigger the worry
These are anonymised, typical scenarios, not real jobs. Every figure comes from the government and published sources this site uses. None of them tells you where your boundary is.
A leaning Colorbond fence in Salisbury. Two neighbours each believe the old fence sits on their side, and one says it has been there since before the other bought. The owner wanting to replace it needs to state the fence’s position in a Form 1 notice, and if that position is a guess, the dispute is baked into the paperwork. The Fences Act counts the cost of “any survey that is reasonably required for the purposes of the fencing work” as a fencing cost. Without agreement, the neighbour’s share of an adequate fence is one-half of the minimum cost of erecting it. The Legal Services Commission says that if you both want the survey you can agree to share it, but if not, the person who arranges the survey pays.
For scale, one national cost guide (Trade Heroes, updated 6 March 2026, GST not stated) gives a range of $900 to $2,500 for a boundary survey across Australia. That’s not an Adelaide price. Surveyors quote each job, and the price depends on the block, the evidence on site and the survey type.
A bluestone villa in Unley with a side wall on the title boundary. An old wall is rarely as precise as it looks, and the owner next door wants to extend along it. Before anyone talks about claims, someone needs to know whether the wall, the eave or the gutter line sits inside the boundary, on it or across it. That’s a measurement job for a Licensed Surveyor. If it shows a structure crossing the line, section 4 of the Encroachments Act 1944 gives either owner a route to the Land and Valuation Court, and a lawyer should be in the conversation before anyone acts.
A Mount Barker buyer looking at a shed and a garden strip. The house is on a block the buyer likes, the shed sits near the back fence, and the neighbour clearly uses a strip of the yard as their own. The Surveyors Board recommends a Licensed Surveyor when buying or selling, so you know about any encroachments. The time to ask is before settlement, when the answer can change a price or a contract condition, not after, when it can only start a dispute. The contract terms are a conveyancer’s job. An identification survey before buying is the usual way to get the ground facts.
What a survey can settle, and what it cannot
A survey by a Licensed Surveyor gives you a measured, professional opinion of where the boundary is and how the fence and buildings sit against it. In South Australia, all property boundary surveys must be conducted or supervised by a practising Licensed Surveyor, and surveys by unlicensed practitioners “do not have any legal standing”, according to the Surveyors Board SA. A boundary survey or an identification survey is where that starts.
It has limits, and a wary owner should know them:
- It shows the line. It doesn’t move anything. A survey doesn’t shift a fence, force a neighbour to agree or decide who owns a disputed strip.
- Pegs are an opinion. The Surveyor-General describes pegs placed on identification surveys as representing “the surveyor’s opinion as to the position of the boundary”, subject to errors of survey or judgement.
- It doesn’t decide a legal claim. Whether a neighbour’s long occupation counts for anything is for a lawyer, not a surveyor.
- Identification surveys are recorded. They are publicly recorded by lodging a Plan for Information Purposes, which gives you a dated record of what the surveyor found.
- Timing matters. A survey that lands on a neighbour’s doorstep with no warning tends to harden positions. Talk first.
If your pegs have disappeared under a driveway or a new fence, our guide to missing survey pegs explains what re-establishing them involves.
Sensible steps before you argue about a strip of lawn
You don’t need to start with a lawyer or a survey. Start with what you know and work outward from there.
- Get your certificate of title and any registered plan. They show what the title says, not what is on the ground.
- Look at what the two blocks actually do. Where are the fence, the buildings, the paving and the garden beds? Photograph them with the date on the file. Don’t move anything.
- Talk to the neighbour. Many disputes over a fence or a strip end here, because most people would rather not go to court over a few centimetres.
- Decide what the survey is for. Fence replacement, a building extension, a purchase and a dispute over a strip all need different scopes. Tell the surveyor which one you have.
- Check the surveyor’s licence. There is no searchable online register. Contact the Registrar of the Surveyors Board SA, or use the Gazette list “Licensed and Registered Surveyors in South Australia”, updated each July and January.
- Take the legal question to a conveyancer or lawyer. Bring the survey result with you.
The boundary fence dispute survey guide covers who pays and when a survey is worth it. If you’re unsure whether the person you’ve found is the right kind of surveyor, read about licensed and registered surveyors in SA.
Ready to find out where the line is? Tell us what the survey is for and we will put you in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor, who quotes in writing and contracts with you directly. We don’t survey, peg or lodge anything ourselves, and we can’t tell you where your boundary is. If you’d rather talk, call (08) 5550 3814 after you have sent the form.
For the regulator’s own wording, see the Surveyors Board SA public information page and the SA Government page on boundaries and fences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a neighbour claim part of my land through adverse possession in SA?
That’s a legal question, and the sources this site relies on don’t set out the test, so we won’t guess. What they do say is that the Fences Act s 17 stops adverse possession arising from a fence built off the line under an agreement or court order. For anything else, ask a conveyancer or lawyer, and get the boundary located first.
Does a fence in the wrong place change where my boundary is?
Not on the sources we hold. SA Government says an existing fence’s location does not change the legal boundary or who legally owns the land. A Licensed Surveyor can show where the boundary runs against the fence.
Who decides a dispute over a boundary fence or an encroachment?
Fencing disputes go to the Magistrates Court, which can decide the line of fence to be adopted. Encroachment disputes go to the Supreme Court, and the Encroachments Act 1944 s 4 lets either owner apply to the Land and Valuation Court. A lawyer can tell you which route fits your case.
How much does it cost to have the boundary surveyed?
Adelaide surveyors quote each job and don’t publish prices for boundary surveys. One national guide (Trade Heroes, 6 March 2026, GST not stated) gives $900 to $2,500 for a boundary survey, but that’s not an Adelaide price. A Licensed Surveyor quotes your block after seeing the title and the site.