House construction - We must respect boundaries, the neighbor does not

Hello everyone,

we are planning a new building after the demolition of the current house in RLP.
The old house on the north side stands on the boundary.
Theoretically, we could build on the boundary again, but since we are planning the driveway on that side, we have to keep a 3m distance from the boundary. Unfortunately, due to an error by the draftsman, we only had a distance of 2.80m approved by the building authority, so a new plan will probably be necessary.

Now I noticed that the owner to the north built closer to the boundary than shown on the site plan. He built much wider on top of a long narrow old building, so I assume the distance to the boundary is partly less than 2.00m.

What would you recommend to me?
Do I have to accept the neighbor’s small distance to the boundary?
Of course, I don’t want to cause him to have to rebuild, but is it possible to agree informally that we can also build closer to the boundary if he is already closer? Or does it have to go through the building authority in a complicated way, including easements etc.?

On the south side, we were not granted permission for a terrace because due to a slope in the property it no longer counts as a terrace but as a balcony. Here, too, a 3m distance to the southern boundary is required.
I could accept that on my part, but the neighbor to the north also has a roof terrace on the piece of land close to the boundary.
Why is he allowed to have it, but we are not?!

By the way: how can I best graphically represent such spatial situations? Is there a simple tool?

Best regards
Tito

Starting off well Reminds me of my children

Hello Patrick,

I thought you could agree with the neighbor, "Hey, I see you built too close to the boundary... then you don’t mind if I also build 20 cm too close..."
It was already strange that the neighbor said unprompted during the very first viewing appointment: "It’s all approved."
I have already met the neighbors. They are quite nice and I don’t want to betray anyone.

On the one hand, I would like to know 100% whether the neighbor built correctly and everything has been approved, on the other hand I don’t want to jeopardize a neighborhood for the next 30 years.
How should I proceed?

Thank you very much for your help.

Cheers
Tito

I thought you could agree with the neighbor "Hey, I see you built too close to the boundary... then you don’t mind if I also build 20 cm too close..."

No, unfortunately that’s not possible, everything must be properly regulated. A building encumbrance on the neighbor’s property would of course reduce the buildability of the neighbor’s property. For example, if you move 1 meter closer to the boundary, he would have to maintain an additional 1 meter distance when rebuilding. Usually no one agrees to that.

If your new neighbor is nice, I would simply try to talk to him. Has the neighbor also just recently built? I’ll assume it’s an older existing property. I would just tell him that you are currently preparing the building application and you would like to know how he managed to build so close to the boundary. The building authority has informed you of larger boundary distances. Then you can just turn the tables and ask him if he really built everything with a building permit or if he took some liberties. You have heard that when you apply for your building permit, the neighboring properties are also examined regarding the boundary distance and of course you want to avoid any issues being uncovered at the neighbor’s. Because if he hasn’t fully complied with the boundary distances, it would be good for you to know so you could think together beforehand about how to prevent his illegal construction from being exposed.

Something like this is how you could discreetly approach him and you’ll probably get an honest answer because he will see you as an ally, not an opponent.

Hello titoz,

without plans, it is as always in these cases hardly answerable, just for the record upfront.

The sticking point for me is the description that the neighbor has added a storey to an existing building, thus keeping old walls/boundary distances:

He built much wider on top of a long narrow old building, so that I partially assume a boundary distance of less than 2.00m.

If he builds on the old walls, different rules regarding the boundary distance may apply - I assume that this is okay, but it cannot be checked without plans. But yes - there are also builders/owners who build first and ask later.

Regarding the boundary distance: what does it mean that you "assume" that the boundary distance is only 2.0m or less? Are the boundary stones present and have they been checked? Have you measured the boundary distance yourself to at least the decimeter in the relevant areas or only estimated it?

In short: your architect/surveyor should obtain the neighbor’s building file/permit and check it against the points you mentioned. If it is indeed a significant deviation from the building permit, it will become apparent very quickly.

If so, you will not gain any points with the building authority for your own construction, but you can assert the impairment of the neighbor’s building regarding your property against the neighbor. There are different scenarios for this. It is then either planning damage because someone slept on the planning/approval or it was intentional by the builder. In both cases, your sympathy should be limited: planners are insured against such things. Builders who do this intentionally are gamblers and should know the risk.

(Pragmatic) solutions in cooperation with the building authority are always possible even then.

If the neighbor’s building application and execution are correct (which can also be the case with a widened addition!), the remaining discussion is superfluous, then you consider your property alone for planning purposes.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

In short: Your architect/surveyor should obtain the neighbor’s building file/permit and check it against the points you mentioned. If there is indeed a significant deviation from the building permit, it will be discovered very quickly.

Thanks for the detailed answer. I want to go into it more precisely in the next few days.... but I want to quickly ask one thing:
1. How does a surveyor obtain the file? Ring the bell and then say, "Good day, I would like to see your file"?
2. Do you know any software with which you can quickly draw plans that are reasonably meaningful?

Regards
Tito