Hello everyone,
We are currently in the process of purchasing a plot of land and have been giving some thought to the positioning of the house and other features.
I have uploaded an excerpt of the development plan with my own rough sketches added.
The development plan basically only specifies the building area (building boundary, not a building line) and the ridge orientation. The surrounding streets at the bottom and left are actually the same road, so it should not matter where I place the driveway or the main entrance of the house.
The building area covers approximately 16.5 m by 14 m (about 54 ft by 46 ft). After subtracting the 3 m (10 ft) minimum distance to the right neighbor, about 13.5 m by 14 m (44 ft by 46 ft) remain. I am planning for a house size of 11 m by 9 m (36 ft by 30 ft).
As far as I understand, and according to the building regulations of Rhineland-Palatinate, I can build the garage (which will probably be a double garage) up to the boundary of the neighboring property?
Regarding the terrace, however, I am unsure. Does it have to be within the building area? According to Section 62 of the building regulations, a terrace does not require approval. I mainly want to lay a few square meters of loose paving stones there. If it has to be within the building area, that will be tight.
Do you think my "rough" layout is permissible and sensible?
Wishing you all a great weekend in advance!
We are currently in the process of purchasing a plot of land and have been giving some thought to the positioning of the house and other features.
I have uploaded an excerpt of the development plan with my own rough sketches added.
The development plan basically only specifies the building area (building boundary, not a building line) and the ridge orientation. The surrounding streets at the bottom and left are actually the same road, so it should not matter where I place the driveway or the main entrance of the house.
The building area covers approximately 16.5 m by 14 m (about 54 ft by 46 ft). After subtracting the 3 m (10 ft) minimum distance to the right neighbor, about 13.5 m by 14 m (44 ft by 46 ft) remain. I am planning for a house size of 11 m by 9 m (36 ft by 30 ft).
As far as I understand, and according to the building regulations of Rhineland-Palatinate, I can build the garage (which will probably be a double garage) up to the boundary of the neighboring property?
Regarding the terrace, however, I am unsure. Does it have to be within the building area? According to Section 62 of the building regulations, a terrace does not require approval. I mainly want to lay a few square meters of loose paving stones there. If it has to be within the building area, that will be tight.
Do you think my "rough" layout is permissible and sensible?
Wishing you all a great weekend in advance!
C
CrazyChris18 Jan 2019 15:52However, I am still curious whether the terrace now needs to be within the building boundary or not?
Zaba12 schrieb:
Uh...not for us! Are you sure??? We have a building envelope for the house and the garage/carport. Everything else—terrace, paths, and driveway—is outside of it.I checked the land use ordinance again. It is regulated under Section 23.
If the terrace is considered an accessory structure, it may be built outside the building boundary. Usually! I mistakenly classified it as part of the building.
However, I would have it approved by the building authority.
ypg schrieb:
It is regulated under paragraph 23 Correct.
ypg schrieb:
If the terrace is an ancillary structure , which unfortunately it is not in this case, since it is directly attached to the house. Therefore, it does not benefit from the privileges of §19 (4) and must not cause any exceedance of the floor area ratio.
ypg schrieb:
I had mistakenly defined it as part of the building. Correctly so.
ypg schrieb:
However, I would have it approved by the building authority. Good suggestion. I am not familiar with the details of @Zaba12's construction project, especially the zoning plan, but if there are no specifications regarding terraces, he got lucky that his case officers are either unaware of recent court decisions or choose to apply them in favor of the builder.
The professional community is quite divided on terraces, which is why I have no problem leaving the terrace out of the building application and constructing it without approval after the last inspector’s visit. The risk of objections is very low. Legalized i
CrazyChris schrieb:
Floor area ratio according to the land use ordinance What do you mean by that? The floor area ratio must be specified in the zoning plan/planning permission; otherwise, it would not be a qualified zoning plan, which is very unlikely.
Are there any regulations in the zoning plan about garages and parking spaces?
Escroda schrieb:
which, unfortunately, is not the case here since it is directly connected to the house.Escroda schrieb:
What do you mean by that? The floor area ratio must be specified in the development plan,Well, I’m relieved and don’t have to doubt my knowledge after all
I also wanted to ask about the floor area ratio, but decided not to
Regarding the terrace: is it even checked afterwards? Or does the building authority tend to be more lenient with exceedances in such cases? I can easily imagine that some small step-outs from the house end up being developed into a 40m² (430ft²) large terrace. No plaintiff, no case
Where do the utility connections enter the property? That might be interesting regarding the lengths and because, as far as I know, they should not be built over. I am less concerned about this with a terrace than I would be with a garage, but it’s probably wise to pay some attention to it.
ypg schrieb:
is this even checked afterwards? As mentioned, terraces are a controversial subject due to their legal history in building regulations. In the past, they were regarded as minor ancillary structures with no planning or building regulation significance and were largely ignored. Then, the Building Utilization Ordinance of 1990 introduced soil sealing considerations, giving terraces planning law relevance, initially only linked to floor space index restrictions. Later, court rulings reclassified them from floor space index category II to category I, because someone argued that terraces should be considered part of the main building. This change meant terraces had to be located within the designated building area, something even urban planners overlooked when developing zoning plans. However, in building codes, terraces are still considered insignificant, for example in the North Rhine-Westphalia Building Code 2018, §62 15. e) other insignificant structures or parts of structures such as entrance canopies, awnings, roller shutters, terraces, ...
As a result, everyone views terraces differently. Legally, they must be within the building envelope unless the zoning plan explicitly states otherwise. Therefore, if you deal with a strict building inspector, you may face a demolition order. However, in practical experience, I am not aware of any such cases.
Similar topics