Boundary & Easement  ·  October 31, 2026

Neighbor Excavating Next to Your California Property: Civil Code Section 832, Lateral Support and How to Stop or Recover for Damage

A notice arrives saying the neighbor will dig a basement along the property line. Or no notice arrives, and one morning there is a shoring rig at the fence and a new crack in your patio. On hillside lots in Los Angeles, these disputes are common.

California has a specific statute for this situation. Civil Code Section 832 gives every owner a right to the support their land receives from the neighbor's land, lets the neighbor make proper and usual excavations anyway, and sets conditions on how the digging is done. This article explains those conditions, who is liable when support is lost, how to pause work that threatens your home, and the deadlines.

What does California Civil Code Section 832 require before a neighbor excavates?

Section 832 requires the excavating owner or lessee to give reasonable notice stating the depth and start date, to use ordinary care and skill and take reasonable precautions to sustain the adjoining land, and, when the excavation will be deeper than and close enough to endanger a neighbor's foundation, to allow at least 30 days and access to protect the structure.

The statute begins: "Each coterminous owner is entitled to the lateral and subjacent support which his land receives from the adjoining land," subject to the neighbor's right "to make proper and usual excavations on the same for purposes of construction or improvement." Lateral support comes from the side; subjacent support from below.

Subdivision 1: reasonable notice of depth and start date

An owner of land, or the owner's lessee, "intending to make or to permit an excavation" must give reasonable notice to the owners of adjoining lands and of buildings or other structures, stating "the depth to which such excavation is intended to be made, and when the excavating will begin." The statute sets no number of days for this notice; it must be reasonable.

Subdivision 2: ordinary care for the land

In making any excavation, "ordinary care and skill shall be used," and reasonable precautions must be taken to sustain the adjoining land "as such, without regard to any building or other structure which may be thereon." There is no liability for damage to such a building or structure by reason of the excavation, "except as otherwise provided or allowed by law." Liability for structures depends on other law, including negligence and the nine-foot rule.

Subdivision 3: at least 30 days and a right to enter

If it appears that the excavation is to be deeper than the walls or foundations of an adjoining building or other structure "and is to be so close as to endanger the building or other structure in any way," that owner "must be allowed at least 30 days, if he so desires," to protect the structure or extend its foundations, and must be given a "reasonable license to enter on the land on which the excavation is to be or is being made." Both conditions must be met. The statute does not say what event starts the 30 days, so respond to any notice in writing promptly.

Subdivision 4: the nine-foot "standard depth" rule

Subdivision 4 applies if the excavation "is intended to be or is deeper than the standard depth of foundations," defined as "a depth of nine feet below the adjacent curb level, at the point where the joint property line intersects the curb," and the neighboring building's wall or foundation goes to standard depth or deeper. Then the excavating owner, "if given the necessary license to enter on the adjoining land," must protect the adjoining land and building "without cost to the owner thereof" and is liable for any damage from the excavation, "excepting only for minor settlement cracks in buildings or other structures."

Every condition matters. In Holtz v. Superior Court (1970) 3 Cal.3d 296, the California Supreme Court noted that because the plaintiffs' foundations were six feet deep, below the standard depth then in the statute (12 feet, since reduced to nine), a private excavator would have been liable for damage to their buildings only for negligence. On hillside streets without a curb at the shared line, the measurement may be disputed.

What if you refuse the neighbor access?

Section 832 gives the excavating owner no right to enter your land. But the subdivision 4 duty to protect your building at the excavator's cost applies "if given the necessary license to enter on the adjoining land." The statute does not spell out every consequence of a refusal, but refusing access may forfeit the strongest protection it offers. Put any license in writing.

Shoring and tiebacks under your lot

Tiebacks are anchors drilled sideways that can extend beneath the neighboring lot. Nothing in Section 832 authorizes the excavating owner to place shoring, tiebacks or equipment on or under your land. Doing so without permission raises trespass issues, and builders typically ask the neighbor for a written license or easement. Its terms are negotiable.

Los Angeles: 30-day written notice before the permit

In the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 91.3307.1 requires adjoining property to be protected during construction and, for excavations, "as set forth in Section 832 of the Civil Code of California." Before a permit is issued for an excavation that is deeper than the walls or foundation of an adjoining building and closer to the property line than the depth of the excavation, the owner must give the Department of Building and Safety evidence that adjacent owners received a 30-day written notice of intent to excavate, stating the depth and start date, by certified mail, return receipt requested. LADBS Information Bulletin P/BC 2026-060 states that the department will record the delivery date on the permit application and note that no excavation may occur until 30 days after that date. Unincorporated Los Angeles County and other cities have their own codes.

Who is liable when a neighbor's excavation damages my California property?

Usually the question is negligence. California common law imposed strict liability for removing lateral support of land in its natural state; Section 832 relaxed that rule for specified excavations, and its nine-foot rule imposes liability for damage to deep foundations without proof of fault only if every condition is met.

Natural land versus buildings

In Quinn v. Coulton (2026) 121 Cal.App.5th 1124, a published decision of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Two, the court explained, quoting Empire Star Mines Co. v. Butler (1944) 62 Cal.App.2d 466, 533, that the common law right extends to "the land in its natural state, without the added weight of a building upon it." It described Section 832 as the Legislature's effort to relax the common law by "eliminating absolute or strict liability for excavation in specified circumstances," and stated that Section 832 "did not change the baseline rule that a landowner who negligently excavated would be liable for any damage to the property and/or improvements."

So for a typical house, expect to prove negligence, such as inadequate shoring or missing underpinning. A building code violation may be evidence of negligence, but Quinn noted that negligence per se is not a separate cause of action; it requires a viable underlying negligence claim.

No excavation, no strict liability

Quinn involved an old retaining wall between San Francisco backyards that failed in a storm; on the first day of trial, the uphill owners voluntarily dismissed their negligence and nuisance claims; the trial court then excluded their strict liability theory, declined to instruct the jury on it, and entered judgment for the neighbor. The court held that "California law does not recognize a strict liability claim for loss of lateral support absent some excavation activity," and, relying on Lee v. Takao Building Development Co. (1985) 175 Cal.App.3d 565, that a later owner who neither excavated nor was independently negligent is generally not liable. For wall failures driven by runoff, see our article on neighbor water drainage in California.

Contractors, engineers and public agencies

The contractor that dug and shored, and the engineers who designed the work, may be sued for their own negligence. You can also file a complaint against a licensed contractor with the Contractors State License Board, but CSLB states that the purpose of its investigation "is not to obtain restitution"; recovering money generally requires a claim or lawsuit. Notify your own insurer promptly.

When a public entity does the digging, different rules apply. In Holtz, where an 80-foot-deep BART excavation allegedly cracked neighboring San Francisco buildings, the Supreme Court held that public entities may be liable in inverse condemnation for physical damage proximately caused by a public improvement as deliberately designed and constructed, whether or not the entity was negligent, and that Section 832 does not limit a government agency's duty to compensate for that damage. The Supreme Court later clarified, in City of Oroville v. Superior Court (2019) 7 Cal.5th 1091, that a causal connection alone is not enough: "the damage to private property must be substantially caused by an inherent risk presented by the deliberate design, construction, or maintenance of the public improvement." Claims against public entities have their own claim-presentation rules and deadlines, summarized in our drainage article.

How can I stop a neighbor's construction in California?

Start with the permit file and a written demand, then the building department and, if the work threatens serious harm, a court order. A California court may grant a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction where, among other grounds, money damages would not be adequate relief, but it weighs harm to both sides and must require a bond.

Check the permit and send a written demand

Pull the permit records: whether the excavation and shoring were permitted, when any 30-day notice was delivered, and whether the work matches the plans. Unpermitted work, or digging before the notice period runs, is a reason to contact the building department, which can inspect and enforce its code but does not award damages between neighbors.

A letter citing Section 832 that asks for the depth, schedule, shoring plans, soils report and insurance information, and invokes your subdivision 3 rights where they apply, creates a record. Pair it with a pre-construction survey of your home by a licensed engineer. Without a baseline, it is hard to prove which cracks the excavation caused.

Temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions

Code of Civil Procedure Section 526(a) permits an injunction, among other grounds, when continuing an act during the litigation "would produce waste, or great or irreparable injury," or when "pecuniary compensation would not afford adequate relief."

No preliminary injunction may be granted without notice to the opposing party (Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 527(a)). A temporary restraining order may issue without notice only if an affidavit or verified complaint shows that "great or irreparable injury will result to the applicant before the matter can be heard on notice," and the applicant certifies that notice was given within a reasonable time, that good-faith efforts to give it failed, or why it should not be required (Sec. 527(c)). If a TRO issues without notice, the hearing must be set not later than 15 days, or 22 days for good cause, from the date the TRO is issued (Sec. 527(d)(1)).

Courts evaluate "two interrelated factors" (IT Corp. v. County of Imperial (1983) 35 Cal.3d 63, 69): the likelihood the applicant will prevail at trial, and the interim harm each side is likely to suffer if the injunction is granted or denied. Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 529(a), on granting an injunction the court must require an undertaking to pay the enjoined party's damages, up to an amount the court specifies, if the court finally decides the applicant was not entitled to the injunction; the enjoined party may object to it within five days after service of the injunction.

How long do I have to sue for excavation damage in California?

Generally three years. Code of Civil Procedure Section 338(b) sets a three-year limit for "an action for trespass upon or injury to real property." When it starts can be disputed where cracking appears gradually, so do not wait for the damage to stop.

Deadlines at a glance

What you can recover

Damages for harm to real property are generally the lesser of the reduction in value or the reasonable cost of repair. Under CACI No. 3903F, if the owner has "a genuine desire to repair the property for personal reasons," and the repair costs are reasonable given the damage and the value after repair, repair costs may be awarded even if they exceed the loss of value. If trenching at the line cut your tree's roots, see our article on tree damage and Civil Code Section 3346, which explains why the damages multiplier may be contested when the work was done entirely on the neighbor's side, and why the claim may still exist in negligence or nuisance.

Key evidence includes the notices with mailing receipts, permit records, shoring plans and the soils report, a pre-construction condition survey or your earliest dated photos, crack monitoring over time, and an engineer's report on causation and repair. Do not remove shoring or interfere with the work yourself; that can create liability of your own.

For footings or walls that cross the line, see how long you have to sue over an encroachment and our statutes of limitations guide. ROMO Law Group handles boundary and easement disputes and construction defect claims throughout California. If a neighbor's excavation is underway or has damaged your property, contact us with the notice, permit number and photos.

Common questions

This article is general information about California law as of October 31, 2026 and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. Anyone facing a specific dispute should consult a lawyer about their own circumstances.

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