Temporary storage of excavation from the neighbor's property?

As always in life, it depends on the sensible and sufficient coverage of existential risks. Also acceptable are risks that really hurt if they materialize. The problem is always that you are dealing with people, with all their advantages and disadvantages and lots of subjectivity. I would find it embarrassing to somehow bring up with my future neighbors how one could cushion their possible bankruptcy if one were to allow them to temporarily store their excavation on one's own property. Just imagine if one refused this request and then might have to live next to this neighbor for decades.

Within the framework of a "balancing of goods," the risk would simply be too low for me to refuse such a request or make it dependent on conditions. To be honest, I wouldn't even talk about it but would immediately and directly blurt out "yeah sure, you can do that for your construction period." Then raise the beer bottle, toast, and mutually enjoy the great contact.

Now just replace the matter with a variable "y" and then substitute "y" with an almost arbitrary matter of smaller scope. Then it will work out with the neighbor as well.

I told you: a handshake should be enough here

We had to dispose of about 100t of topsoil from our own property. The fun cost a good 1500 euros including labor and machine rental. Such an excavation 10x10x3 would cost at least three times as much... I think the handshake is fine, but the surrounding details can well be put in writing; however, an outage insurance would probably be too much of a good thing.

So we did it like this: First, we talked to the neighbor and got an impression of him. If he is a very precise person, then perhaps you should ask whether it should be put in writing. In our case, it was about the fact that our neighbor had started before us and we both had planned a garage with a basement on the property line. Only he was about 40cm higher from his foundation and had only planned a gravel layer.

So we would have had to underpin everything expensively. Two weeks before he started, I asked him if he could pour a 60cm deep strip foundation so that we wouldn't have to underpin. This all happened over the phone, so a virtual handshake, and I of course covered the additional costs of 1100€.

As a neighbor, you also have to build a certain basis of trust, and that includes "advances" on both sides.

In general, I am absolutely a fan of the trustworthy handshake, but there are also uncertainties: - you don’t know the new neighbor very well yet and don’t really know how he thinks. - how flexibly does he react when his schedule no longer works out. Then he is under stress anyway and possibly no longer so friendly - if you have to remove the soil because it hinders you, you have to talk about additional costs and people always change when money is involved I am facing a similar situation: a neighbor, whom I don’t know yet, wants to build soon. Because the space conditions are so tight, he will inevitably have to drive over my property partially with large machines and also definitely want to store material there. I will allow him to do that, but also draw up a short four-line agreement. It states that he is responsible for safety, that everything will be cleared away again by xx.xx.xxxx, and that he assumes liability in case of damage. Furthermore, a few environmental protection-related things that are already included in the building permit. All of this is self-evident and he should accept it without problems. I am almost sure that we will both have to review this agreement again after signing it, but you never know.