Iowa · statute · Iowa Code ch. 563 · 12 active provisions
Where building lots have been surveyed and plats thereof recorded, anyone who is about to build contiguous to the land of another may, if there be no wall on the line between them, build a brick, reinforced concrete, or stone wall thereon, when the whole thickness of such wall above the cellar wall does not exceed eigh…
If the adjoining owner contributes one-half of the expense of building such wall, then it is a wall in common between them, but if the adjoining owner refuses to contribute, the adjoining owner shall have the right to make it a wall in common by paying to the person who erected or maintained it one-half of its appraise…
No wall shall be built by any person partly on the land of another with any openings therein, and every separating wall between buildings shall, as high as the upper part of the first story, be presumed to be a wall in common, if there be no titles, proof, or mark to the contrary, and if any wall is erected which, unde…
The repairs and rebuilding of walls in common are to be made at the expense of all who have a right to them, and in proportion to the interest of each therein, but every coproprietor of a wall in common may be exonerated from contributing to the same by giving up the coproprietor’s right in common, if no building belon…
Every coproprietor may build against a wall held in common, and cause beams or joists to be placed therein; and any person building such a wall shall, on being requested by the other coproprietor, make the necessary flues, and leave the necessary bearings for joists or beams, at such height and distance apart as shall…
Every coproprietor may increase the height of a wall in common at the coproprietor’s sole expense, and that person shall repair and keep in repair that part of the same above the part held in common.
If the wall so held in common cannot support the wall to be raised upon it, one who wishes to have it made higher must rebuild it anew and at that person’s own expense, and the additional thickness of the wall must be placed entirely on that person’s own land.
The person who did not contribute to the heightening of a wall held in common may cause the raised part to become common by paying one-half of the appraised value of raising it, and half the value of the ground occupied by the additional thickness thereof, if any ground was so occupied.
Every proprietor joining a wall has the right of making it a wall in common, in whole or in part, by repaying to the owner thereof one-half of its value, or one-half of the part which the proprietor wishes to hold in common, and one-half of the value of the ground on which it is built, if the person who has built it ha…
Adjoining owners of walls held in common shall not make openings or cavities therein, nor affix nor attach thereto any work or structure, without the consent of the other, or upon the other’s refusal, without having taken all necessary precautions to guard against injury to the rights of the other, to be ascertained by…
No dispute between adjoining owners as to the amount to be paid by one or the other, by reason of any of the matters provided in this chapter, shall delay the execution of the provisions of the same, if the party on whom the claim is made shall enter into bonds, with security, to the satisfaction of the clerk of the di…
This chapter shall not prevent adjoining proprietors from entering into special agreements about walls on the lines between them, but no evidence thereof shall be competent unless in writing, signed by the parties thereto or their lawfully authorized agents, or the guardian of either, if a minor, who shall have full au…