Appurtenance

The word 'appurtenance' means a subordinate part or adjunct to something else, but something that might be considered as an in integral or necessary part of the whole.

In terms of buildings, property and land an appurtenance can mean that something legally belongs to another, larger, more valuable entity. As such its use can extend by interpretation to a barn, a right of way, a driveway, drainage ditch or fence to parapets, aerials, air conditioning units, balconies, solar panels, sunshades, canopies, signs, or any rooftop equipment.

In effect it might be used to refer to any attachment that is or might become part of a property, thus once installed or attached, it cannot be easily separated from its larger entity. As such it may be seen in the legal clauses of rental property as much as in the legal cause of land a property sale.

In terms of building construction, appurtenance may also be used on the same basis to refer to ancillary or complementary component parts to plumbing, electrical, gas or servicing equipment associated with the general running of a building.

HM Land Registry: 1862 Act Register defines appurtenance as: 'Property that belongs to something else, such as a shed, barn or garden grounds of a building.'

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Building boundary definition.
• Building integrated windpower.
• Licensing buildings.
• Plumbing appurtenance.
• Prescriptive rights of way.
• Resorting to self-help in boundary dispute.
• Right of way.