fixtures


fixtures

the doctrine by which most legal systems (including those of England and Scotland) accept that eventually moveable property can become real or heritable by affixing the moveable thing to the realty or heritage. In Roman law, in civilian jurisdictions including Scotland, reference is often made to the maxim inaedificatum solo, solo cedit: ‘that which is attached to the land accrues to the land.’ Unfortunately, the precise rules differ from system to system and from occasion to occasion, thus what is fixed between heir and estate is not always the same as between buyer and seller or between landlord and tenant. Thus, to sell the land is to sell the buildings on it. To sell a shop is to sell the shelves on the wall. In difficult cases, two main factors are often considered:
  1. (1) the ease of movement; thus, even heavy machinery that is not bolted to the ground maybe a fixture;
  2. (2) the damage done by removal, often making easily moveable things that are bolted to walls fixtures.