Neighbor law

Neighboring law is a cross-sectional legal area and includes those regulations that affect the legal relationships between neighbors, especially in the event of disputes. The neighboring law is partly structured under private law and partly under public law.

The private law neighboring law is regulated in Sections 903 ff. of the Civil Code. The owner of a property can basically do with his property as he wishes, cf.§ 903 BGB. §§ 904 ff. BGB restrict this right of the owner and serve to protect neighbors, in particular he must refrain from negative effects on the neighboring properties. In this case, the neighbor usually has a claim for injunctive relief under neighboring law in accordance with. § 1004 BGB. In some federal states, private neighboring law is also specifically regulated in special state laws.

Neighboring law is also regulated in numerous public law regulations. It includes those regulations that contain the subjective rights of the neighbors, for example if the neighbor does not comply with the boundary distances. The building authorities must observe these regulations, especially when issuing a building permit, and the neighbor can take action against them. Such regulations can be found, among other things, in Sections 31-35 of the BauGB and in the standards of the respective state building regulations. Further neighbor-protecting standards can be found in neighboring law, for example in the Federal Immission Control Act (BImschG) in the case of odor or noise nuisance from neighbors.