Semi-detached house - who submits the building application first, wins?

Hi construction expert,

We have fully adhered to the development plan - says the architect!

Only the development plan allows a lot of freedom regarding length, width, and height. I have fully utilized everything, including a larger garage, but no basement.

The neighbor will probably build smaller but with a basement.

Let's see how it turns out - I want to start construction as soon as possible.

Best regards
Andi

I took full advantage of everything including a bigger garage, but no basement. The neighbor will probably build smaller but with a basement.

Are you aware of the consequences if you build without a basement first? If not, then have your architect explain it to you. On the one hand, you cause your neighbors significant additional costs for necessary underpinning of your house if they want to build with a basement (which is not your problem, but certainly not optimal for a good later relationship), on the other hand, such underpinning is also not without risk for your house (e.g. cracks...).

Hello,

Are you aware of the consequences if you build first without a basement? If not, then have your architect explain it to you. On the one hand, you cause your neighbors significant additional costs for a necessary underpinning of your house if they want to build with a basement (which is not your problem, but certainly not optimal for a good relationship later), on the other hand, such underpinning is not without risk for your house (e.g. cracks...).

On the one hand, he may not care about the neighbor – by the way, a basement is an expensive hobby and should be well considered – on the other hand, the architect and structural engineer of the neighbor’s half are responsible for ensuring that no problems occur during the underpinning.

Kind regards

On the one hand, the neighbor can be irrelevant to him - by the way, a basement is an expensive hobby and needs to be well thought out - on the other hand, the architect and structural engineer of the neighbor's half are responsible for ensuring that there are currently no problems with the underpinning

If it were that simple... Certainly, it is the neighbor's problem - but if there is a wrong or faulty planning, you first have a lot of stress to deal with. Whether you then have the desire and the money to engage in years of legal disputes with your neighbor is another matter. It is certainly better to solve such things in advance or to be aware that there may still be problems.

Hello,

If it were that simple... Certainly, it's the neighbor's problem – but if there is a wrong or faulty planning, you first have a lot of stress on your hands. Whether you then have the desire and the money to engage in years of legal disputes with your neighbor is another matter. It is certainly better to solve such things in advance or to be aware that problems may still arise here.

That is always better; however, as you can see from the thread here, it is not always feasible that the person with basement ambitions starts with their building application first.

I don't know what worries and concerns/experiences occupy you, but using the moral cudgel in favor of the basement still seems questionable to me.

Best regards

Hello Willi,

since I am practically in the role of the "neighbor who wants to build a basement"….
As I wrote, all house dimensions were given to me by my neighbor, since she is alone, but there are four of us, that was too little space for us. Therefore, we had to build a partial basement. I wouldn’t have been upset with her for that, since she was first. I am only upset with her because she gave us the specifications and has now sold (had to sell) the house.
Well… C’est la vie

So Andy, be glad you hold the reins.
Your neighbor only has himself to blame for not having submitted a building application yet!