Plot on a slope; who bears the anchoring costs?

but this building stop was only triggered because someone contacted the authorities.

Well, as you might suspect, that was of course the affected neighbor. Although it was actually lucky that he had it checked right away, because at that time it could still be corrected. During an interim inspection by the building authority, at least the foundation slab would have had to be included, then the damage would be five-figure. At the final acceptance, the house would have stood higher than permitted or so high that it could only have been secured with building encumbrances on the neighbor’s property, which courts would probably have equated with a retirement payment, i.e. an annual payment to the neighbor. Removing material then would not have improved anything. Then the total damage would also be in the six-figure range.

if you had noticed the mistake yourself and removed some material, no one would have cared afterward.

That was not really a planning or execution error in the proper sense. The builder was under the impression that he was allowed to do it that way, unaware of the facts and legal situation. Ultimately, it did not work out because the neighbor did not cooperate.

if you can’t even measure it properly like that, it’s just nitpicking.

No, that is the legal basis, as has already been explained here. As long as no other building height is specified by the building authority, the original terrain height applies. Try it and wait to see what a judge says about it, see above – your neighbor laughs his head off every Christmas over your check.

a suddenly strongly sloping terrain certainly already existed before the building application was submitted and should have been taken into account immediately. (otherwise there would have had to be a big landslide, but then the house wouldn’t have been very safe either^^).

It was already present, yes. No, it did not have to be taken into account. Landslides would always have gone away from the house, so no danger in that regard.

I of course know that someone professional (surveying engineer) pays super mega meticulous attention to that.

What do you expect in this forum? That we as moderators/professionals let such posts/users walk into the lion’s den?

after all, he earns his living with it. and if of course more money can be earned, sure the can is opened.

Ah, so that’s where the wind is blowing from, the envy debate.

Regarding that:

1. We were only brought in when the child had already fallen into the well – I had zero knowledge of the planned deviation and thus no chance to keep the lid on the can.
2. Any attempts to reach a (more cost-effective) agreement with the neighbor have – as expected – failed
3. That costs increase when I have to provide additional services to save the situation – now I’m supposed to justify that? You can’t be serious. And anyway – why should I as a moderator engage here in the forum with the attitude you assume? I would make way more money if I told people nothing or even better nonsense under a pseudonym. You can see yourself – that’s not very logical.

the whole thing escalated with you guys

Nothing has escalated. This was a comparatively small damage, which is still annoying for builders. On the one hand because money is being burned without added value, and on the other hand because time is lost.

because someone really screwed it up.

Goodness, what’s wrong with you? Everything could have been corrected. The damages are much greater if it is only noticed after completion – what do you want to say then?

if earthworks were included with the construction company (and no own work), all costs must have incurred at the construction company.

It doesn’t matter where the costs arise – they are avoidable if you bring the right expert planners on board in time. That was just one example now, where the builder got caught because many homeowners are active here in the forum and they also like to change the garden terrain without seriously informing themselves about the legal situation.

Changes in terrain height can become very quickly problematic. The more users read up on this here in the forum before they pick up the spade, the better.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

How should I know that the client caused the damage himself? It sounded as if the construction companies had messed up the matter. If the client/owner is cooking his own soup, he naturally has to expect such things. Without pictures, one can hardly say how severe the whole story was and whether the neighbor is just making a fuss or if the matter really backfired.

how should I know that the client caused the damage himself?

Because my example probably wouldn't have made sense then or I would have chosen another one!? The OP is obviously the client - and not an architect or any other construction professional, but is asking about exactly this situation. So it's about showing here in the forum that as a client you have to be careful with boundary references and changes to the terrain surface, because even relatively small and/or well-intentioned but unfortunately not permissible works can very quickly lead to unplanned additional costs in annoying amounts.

After all, this is primarily a client forum with the purpose of informing laypeople about special issues.

But I can also give you examples where partially smaller deviations in similar situations caused much higher financial damages to other parties involved in construction (architects, surveyors, contractors, ...) Only those wouldn't fit so well in this thread.

But as the construction expert recently said so nicely...

You’re quite a sweetheart [...]

Best regards
Dirk Grafe