ᐅ According to the architect, building a garage directly on the property boundary is not permitted.

Hello everyone,
our plot (X) has been leveled and the heights have been measured. We had originally planned to place our garage at the front left, on the southwest side of our property.
The scan shows that the right boundary marker is at zero elevation, and there is then a slope of 0.85 meters (33.5 inches) down to the second boundary marker. We actually want to position our garage there due to the sun’s path and because our neighbor has large windows facing us. Our architect says it is only possible on the right side, along the boundary of the existing house number 17.
Our neighbor to the left has already started construction and has excavated into the plot. If I understand correctly, his excavation is 2.61 meters (103 inches) below our right boundary marker.
I still don’t understand why we are not allowed to build our garage along the boundary with the left neighbor. After all, he has excavated into the terrain.

Could someone please explain this to me or confirm that our architect is wrong? We are building in NRW, in case that is relevant for boundary construction rules.

Have a look at this:

https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/probleme-mit-nachbarn-wegen-abgerutschter-erde.13283/

Your issue sounds quite similar to me.
Maybe @Dirk Grafe can respond to you as well.

Hello Watcher78,

The level of -2.61m (-8.56 feet) is almost certainly the top surface of the finished basement floor. With a ceiling height of about 2.90m (9.51 feet), the finished ground floor level would then be approximately +30cm (12 inches) above the surrounding ground level.

There can be several reasons for the garage location, which the architect should also be able to explain. For example, it might be related to the building envelope. If the garage must be placed within the building envelope according to the planning permission / building permit, and there is no building envelope where you want to position the garage, then it is initially not allowed. However, there are solutions for this as well.

Further information can only be provided here in connection with the planning permission / building permit, including the written documentation.

Best regards,
Dirk Grafe

Hello Dirk Grafe,

thank you for your feedback and explanations. I’m not quite sure what is meant by the +30cm (12 inches)? Does that mean we would end up 30cm (12 inches) too high, or how should I understand that?

We don’t have a development plan here; we are building according to § 34 of the Building Code, so there shouldn’t be any problems. I understand it had something to do with the height, meaning we would be too high to build the garage right on the boundary. Alternatively, the garage could be placed next to the house, but then it would be lower, at our basement level. We don’t want that, because then you would always have to reverse out of the garage uphill, and of course, it would be more expensive.

As I understand it, there is 1 meter (3.3 feet) between the two front measuring points, and we are missing this meter in height to build the garage exactly on the boundary there.

Watcher78 schrieb:
Hello Dirk Grafe,

thank you for the feedback and your explanations. I’m not quite sure what is meant by the +30cm (12 inches)? Does that mean the building will end up 30cm (12 inches) too high, or how should I understand that?

No, that was to explain that your neighbor is not digging 2.60m (8.5 ft) deep into the ground, but that is his basement level. No one builds a ground floor 2.60m (8.5 ft) deep, so he is not actually excavating deeply; rather, his planned height is approximately the same as yours. But it actually doesn’t matter, because the heights for buildings on boundary lines AT the boundary, but ON the (respective) building plot are always measured in relation to the existing/original surface level of one’s own plot.

We don’t have a development plan here; we build according to § 34 of the Building Code, so there shouldn’t be any problems. I understand it had something to do with height, that we might be too high to build the garage right on the boundary. Alternatively, the garage could be placed next to the house, but then you would have to drive down to our basement level. We don’t want that because you would have to always reverse uphill out of the garage, which is of course more costly.

I understand that there is about 1m (3.3 ft) distance between the two front measuring points, and we are missing that meter in height to build the garage directly on the boundary.

Sort of. It depends on how and whether you model/raise/lower your terrain. If you add 82cm (32 inches) of fill on the west side, those 82cm (32 inches) are added to the garage wall height, meaning you could only build a garage with roughly 2.20m (7.2 ft) clear height on the west side without having to obtain an easement from the neighbor. This is not an issue on the east side. Or you leave the terrain as it is, but then the garage would be roughly as you described, with the associated disadvantages.

Best regards,
Dirk Grafe

Hello Dirk,

thank you for the detailed explanation. So that means you need to talk to the neighbor, get their consent, or place the garage on the east side.