Shortly before purchasing the property: construction debris / staking out / property elevation

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are about to buy a plot of land (the notary appointment will probably be in May, we have already committed and received confirmation).


1) Construction debris on our property
Today I walked past the plot and saw that the future neighbor is currently paving his terrace + driveway + house entrance and is dumping the resulting construction debris on "our" property.

What is the best thing to do? It is not our property yet, but honestly, I don’t see why I should dispose of his rubbish! I am buying the land from a construction company, maybe I should inform them about the situation and have it included in the contract that they will take care of the disposal of the debris?!

2) Encroachment on our property
Since one of the "marking pillars" of the property boundaries is missing, the neighbor apparently set up a "replacement," which in my opinion definitely lies on our future property. He is now partially building his terrace on our property...

Will our property be precisely surveyed again when buying or building the house? Or do I have to apply for that separately? What does that cost?

3) Neighbor’s property height
The soil that remained from his house has been evenly spread across his property, so it is now about 20 cm higher than our property (some of the soil also ended up on our property, but I don’t care about that...). Basically, I have no problem with this, but is there not a danger that during rain all the rainwater will flow down to us and also wash a lot of soil onto our property?!

Thank you already for all your answers!

Hello Ben,

Regarding 1) construction debris:

Of course, you are not responsible for disposing of the neighbor’s construction debris, and you are purchasing a buildable, unencumbered property from BU. I don’t see a problem here, the neighbor will probably only use your property briefly for temporary storage. This should be resolved in a short phone call with BU and the neighbor.

Regarding 2) property boundary

a) If property boundary markers (boundary stones or similar) are destroyed or altered, the person who destroyed the marker is generally liable. In fact, however, it is hardly possible to hold them accountable, that is,
b) you buy your property "as is" in this regard, possibly without a single visible/existing boundary marker, unless you have it stipulated in the purchase contract that the boundaries are either indicated/exposed or newly set – which BU does not want, because
c) restoring boundary points costs roughly €650 gross and up per 50m of boundary length in NRW residential areas.

These costs can then be apportioned privately (Building Code) among the affected neighbors, which can easily lead to significant deterioration in neighbor relations – so one should only do this if one has already settled things with the neighbor.

A boundary indication with wooden stakes/color markings, etc. – without re-marking the boundary points – is usually cheaper.

It is questionable here who set the marking and whether the existing marking is correct or not. If not – and the terrace is actually being built based on the incorrect boundary marking – your neighbor should have a strong interest in clarification. If it is a newly surveyed development area with coordinate cadastre, this could also be resolved quickly and reliably.

Regarding 3) neighbor’s property height / rainwater

Yes, this should be considered when building on your own property. The property heights of the building plot before construction are specified in the development plan or building permit (if done correctly) and the planned heights. If there are no special stipulations in the development plan, one can (without guarantee!) usually modify the terrain by up to 1m in NRW without a special building permit. You or your architect or authorized planner will also be guided by the finished street height, which the neighbor has probably also done.

If you have any questions, send me a DM or contact me via the contact details in my profile.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

Well, you really are something

You are going to buy a piece of land that is designated by parcel number. The corresponding property will then belong to you – of course, there will be no third-party buildings – if there are, the neighbors will have to dismantle them, since they certainly are not approved.
Still, approach the matter gently and neighborly: In my opinion, you are currently too critical of situations that you cannot yet assess.

Do you know how high your future ground level will be? Where you might temporarily deposit your "waste"?
One is grateful for every faulty piece of land then – future neighbors gladly help each other in this regard, these neighbors don’t even know who to ask... let alone their construction company or the landscape gardener...!

What will it be like when your neighbor plants a tree? Will you immediately anticipate the blossoms that might fall on your domain? Will you always put the negative in the foreground?

As a future landowner or builder, you go – now – openly to your neighbors and have a friendly interaction... the temporary situation usually becomes a topic or is addressed by itself.

As a "future" neighbor, with a changed level of 10/20cm you usually lose out.

And a tip: one should build some loyalty with the neighbor – because remember: you are a neighbor yourself.

Of course, a watchful eye is always good now (then you’ll know later where something comes from). But in my opinion, a direct and friendly interaction is always better than brooding alone and avoiding contact and conversation.

Hello,

thank you very much for your answers!

First of all: I have absolutely no interest in starting a quarrel with the neighbor or anything like that. I'm just not the right type for that. I would just like to find out these things before I sign the contract, so I don’t later realize that any of these points should have actually been the responsibility of the BU. It’s also not the case that I always see the worst immediately – we have already met most of the neighbors and get along great.

1) I don’t think he will remove the construction debris – it is not on his side of the property next to the construction site, but has been nicely moved to the other end of the property. But let’s wait and see.

2) The existing marking is an iron rod that someone hammered into the ground instead of the wooden stake. You can see at first glance that it’s in the wrong place… Well, let’s just wait here – first buy the property and then at some point cautiously bring it up in passing in conversation with the neighbor.

3) Well, it’s clear that a lot of earth has to be removed when building a basement – but all other neighbors have also gotten rid of the earth pile that results from this – it does look strange… All properties except that one are 20cm lower. I don’t care about that, it just could have been that you, as experts on this, would have alarm bells going off because it could cause some problems with earth or water. Apparently that’s not the case – then he can gladly add another meter from my side too.

1) Trash on the ground must always be removed by the person who owns the ground. Regardless of your situation. If the property owner knows who dumped the trash there, he can ask the culprit to remove it again. If the culprit does not do this, it is initially your trash. You can then take it away / dispose of it (do not dump it at the culprit’s place). Afterwards, sue him for the disposal costs.

2) even if there is a post in the ground. A post is initially only an orientation. A property, when properly surveyed, is marked with boundary stones at all corners. That is then the border. A stick in the ground means nothing at first. Maybe it was hit and its maker drove it back into the ground where he thought it belonged... maybe even 2 meters into his property, so that it initially looks like he is building on "your" property.

I have nothing to say about 3

Regarding 1) where do you get this assumption from? Have you spoken to the BH/BU? If not, see previous speaker, assumptions and neighborly relations.

I would include it in the contract with the seller. Contract now, purchase and payment only when the property is free of construction debris. Then the current owner must at least take care of the clarification.