Toilet too close to the wall, what now?

Hello and happy new year to everyone,

our house handover has now almost successfully taken place and after the site manager left, I first used our new toilet... what can I say: I cannot move my right hand "backwards" at all, as the toilet is only 13 cm away from the wall and, for example, my husband with broad shoulders touches the wall.

On the plans, the position of the fixtures was not dimensioned and at no time was it recognizable to us that there might be a small planning error. In my opinion, the frame for the toilet could have been placed a bit more to the right towards the bidet to create more space to the wall.

There does not seem to be any DIN standard for distances of fixtures to the walls, except for disabled toilets.

Is this a defect? Or did we just have bad luck?

Does anyone know what the legal situation looks like for us?

Thank you very much

A construction defect exists if the construction work is not usable for the specified purpose (this is also stated in the [Baugesetzbuch]). Can you reach behind with your left hand? Can your husband sit (or stand in front)? Can he use his left hand? If all answers are yes, you won’t be able to cause a fuss. Poorly planned (and/or supervised), but rather not a construction defect.

The plans did not have the location of the objects dimensioned and at no time was it apparent to us that there was probably a small planning error.

In the "planning" by a, if I remember correctly, plan submitter of the importer, a very high "presumption of mistrust" would have been appropriate. Moreover, "not dimensioned" is a bit naively phrased, when you can clearly see that there will only be about half the width of a 30 cm tile "space". Whether that is 15 or 13 cm, in my opinion, does not make much difference. From my perspective, this is a case of your own failure to check, but nothing that an official judge would consider as contributory negligence on the part of your contractor.

In the "planning" by a, if I remember correctly, plan presenter of the importer, the highest degree of "presumption of mistrust" would have been appropriate. Moreover, "unmeasured" is a bit naively formulated when you can clearly see that there will only be space for about half the width of a 30 cm tile. Whether that is 15 or 13 cm, in my opinion, makes no significant difference. From my point of view, there is a control failure on your part here, but nothing that in the eyes of a magistrate would constitute contributory negligence of your contractor.

And how exactly am I supposed to know that the tile depiction in the bathroom is supposed to represent a 30 cm tile? And how am I supposed to know how much space one normally has to the wall? It is a prefab house, and all drawings and plans come from the house manufacturer.

and how exactly am I supposed to know that the representation of tiles in the bathroom is meant to be 30 cm tiles?

If you look at the posted floor plan, it almost jumps out at you. There is a 90 cm window dimensioned and if you look closely, there are exactly 3 tiles, which means 30 cm per tile.

And how am I supposed to know how much distance people usually leave to the wall?

Didn’t you have a toilet in your old apartment? You can estimate how much space you generally need there.

and how exactly am I supposed to know that the tile layout in the bathroom is supposed to be a 30 cm tile?

Because of the measurements in the plan you provided. For example, 120 cm correspond exactly to four tiles.

And how am I supposed to know how much distance one normally leaves to the wall?

If you have never done things before, you have to work with your own imagination. You can’t know otherwise.

Solution-oriented: I would place the toilet paper holder a bit forward on the partition wall and work from the left. You place the holder so that you can comfortably reach it crosswise.