Encroachment
An encroachment is a building, fence, wall or other improvement or object that extends across a property line onto adjoining land, or into the area of an easement. No Virginia statute defines the word generally; it is used in that ordinary sense, including by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Across a boundary, or inside an easement
A thing on the ground can cross two different kinds of line, and one word covers both. The first question about any encroachment is which line it crossed.
The first is the parcel boundary. A fence built a few feet onto the neighbor's side, the corner of a garage, a driveway that swings over the line: each sits on land its owner does not own. The second is the edge of an easement. A wall, a row of shrubs or a fence can sit entirely on its owner's land and still stand inside a strip that someone else has a right to use. The Supreme Court of Virginia uses the word for that second case too, speaking of an encroachment upon an easement and of injunctions to prevent encroachment within its boundaries.
| What crossed | Measured against | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| A fence, wall, building or drive past the property line | The boundary, as a surveyor establishes it from the records and the ground | A surveyor for the line; an attorney for what follows |
| Shrubs, a wall or other objects inside an easement's area | The easement's purpose and the parties' intent, read from the deed | An attorney; a court decides whether the interference is unreasonable |
The two lead to different places. A boundary encroachment is a question about where the line is and who owns the strip, and the path from the survey to a settled line runs through boundary disputes, the basics. An encroachment into an easement is a question about use, taken up below.
The survey rules that put a crossing on paper
A survey plat is where an encroachment across a property line gets written down, because Virginia's survey regulations require it to be shown.
For a land boundary survey, 18VAC10-20-370 lists what the plat must show, and one item on that list is "Items crossing any property lines such as physical improvements and evidence of easements such as utilities and other physical features pertinent to the boundary of the property."
A physical improvements survey, which 18VAC10-20-380 applies to lots under two acres, is more specific about anything that crosses:
All physical improvements, including fences, across a property line must be identified and dimensioned with respect to the property line.
18VAC10-20-380
A land boundary survey plat also has to state whether any or all easements and physical improvements are shown on it.
An object inside an easement is not automatically unlawful
An encroachment into an easement is judged by reasonableness, not by a tape measure alone.
Unless the easement's terms provide otherwise, Va. Code 55.1-305 forbids the owner of the burdened land any activity, or any object on or immediately next to that land, that unreasonably interferes with how the dominant owner enjoys the easement; for that section, "object" does not include a fence, electric fence, cattle guard, gate or division fence adjacent to the easement. The Supreme Court of Virginia held in 2026 that a landowner does not automatically have to clear every object from an easement of defined width, and how that plays out when something is in the way is taken up in whether a neighbor can block your easement.
What comes next once a survey shows an encroachment of either kind is covered in what an encroachment is and what happens when a survey shows one.
Is there a structure or fence on the land that may cross a line?
Send the address and any survey or plat you have, and Lowell will talk through what the crossing means for a sale and whether a surveyor or an attorney is the next call. No cost, no obligation.
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Questions about this term
Is an encroachment the same thing as adverse possession?
No. An encroachment describes where something sits. Adverse possession is a way to gain title to land, and in Virginia it takes 15 years of possession meeting every element the Supreme Court of Virginia requires, proven by clear and convincing evidence. A long-standing fence can raise the question, but whether possession has ripened into title is for a court to decide.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- 18VAC10-20-370: minimum standards and procedures for land boundary surveying practice Virginia Administrative Code
- 18VAC10-20-380: minimum standards and procedures for surveys determining the location of physical improvements Virginia Administrative Code
- Va. Code 55.1-305: use of easements by dominant and servient estate owners Code of Virginia
- Thibault Enterprises, LLC v. Yost (April 9, 2026): objects within an easement of defined width Supreme Court of Virginia
- Quatannens v. Tyrrell (2004): the elements of adverse possession Supreme Court of Virginia