ᐅ Neighbors startled by the building structure. Has anyone experienced this before?

We also obtained signatures, which turned out to be unnecessary due to the already lengthy processing times mentioned earlier, so we could have saved ourselves the effort. Still, we got all three signatures without any issues, which was somewhat surprising given the relatively central location, where new construction is rather unusual.

Fun fact: The fourth "neighbor" who actually isn’t legally considered one (since a road separates the properties) filed an objection. This person didn’t need to be consulted. The objection was rejected within a few days, so it didn’t cause any delay or problems.

At least, this way, you get to know who’ll really be challenging you.

@Nordlys Basically, I agree with you. Here is an example of why early involvement of neighbors CAN be beneficial: currently, many people are installing air-to-water heat pumps. Their placement can be important. For our friendly neighbor, after the building regulations were finalized (see above), I reviewed their plans and immediately noticed that their general contractor had planned to place the air-to-water heat pump on their north side. Their north side is our south side: the heat pump would have been right next to our terrace and bedrooms, creating noise issues. After a brief conversation with the neighbor, no problem for them—they moved the heat pump to the east side / street side, just like we did. A nice side effect for him: the general contractor’s original “north-side” plan was poorly designed, with unnecessarily long distance between the equipment room and the heat pump. Now the pipe run is much shorter. This “problem” actually brought us into contact; he needed space on his site and asked if he could use part of our land for building materials since we were not that far along yet. Of course, no problem. We now have a really good relationship with them, so it doesn’t bother us at all that he is building his garage a bit higher than planned and approved at the boundary of our property. This shows that involving neighbors can also help de-escalate conflicts because you get to know each other early.

Another neighbor who just started building is doing the same. He showed us his plans, and we shared ours. He even said on his own that he would have the position of the air-to-water heat pump moved, as it would otherwise be very noisy on our side. Also a great relationship, with everyone helping each other where possible. The only problematic one is the builder of the mound on our hill. He didn’t care at all about his neighbors and is now surprised that they are watching closely and not willing to overlook deviations (which I have reported extensively). I would put it this way: sure, you can be completely selfish and show no consideration for others. Or you can look for solutions that work for everyone. Of course, it doesn’t always work out, but at least there is a chance if you try. If you don’t even try and stubbornly insist on your rights, you completely block out that possibility.

You described that well. That was probably the purpose of that signature clause. In that sense, it’s not just nonsense, although legally unnecessary.
Unfortunately, it’s like this here: I know my neighbors on the right well, but not the others, as they are all newcomers who didn’t even show up at the house during the construction phase, and then suddenly there’s a moving van and just like that, they’re there. Thankfully, no one has built anything troublesome on our path.
We’re also getting older, but there’s this flood of middle-aged newcomers who want to live by the sea, some with CW and S on their cars. At my age, I would never move 900 km (560 miles) away from home and family. Then one dies, the other ends up alone in a foreign place in their dream house with a sea view and starts drinking too much because of that sea view. Karsten