Protecting yourself against the excesses of your neighbours

Protecting yourself against the excesses of your neighbours

"I was particularly interested in your articles published on 21 and 27 September. I have a problem with my second home in the canton of Vaud: a neighbour's trees are gradually blocking my view and, above all, the sun, as they grow taller every year. You say that between two and four metres from the boundary, the maximum height of a tree is 9 metres. But what happens when, in this canton, the tree is more than four metres from the plot boundary?

The Code rural et foncier vaudois does not specify a limit on the height of a tree that is more than four metres away from the boundary with the neighbouring property, unlike in the canton of Geneva.

That said, the Swiss Civil Code guarantees a minimum level of protection in all cantons for situations where the protection provided by cantonal legislation is inadequate: under art. 684 of the Swiss Civil Code, every owner is obliged, in exercising his or her right, to refrain from any excesses to the detriment of his or her neighbour's property; this is referred to as "interference" with neighbouring property. Negative immissions include the loss of light, sunlight or views if the property is deprived of an element from which it previously benefited. According to case law, this type of interference may constitute an excess to the detriment of the neighbouring property.

However, unlike non-compliance with cantonal law limits, it will be necessary to prove that the immission is excessive in order to put a stop to it. This will have to be judged according to objective criteria, taking as a measure the feeling that an ordinary, moderately sensitive person would have in similar concrete circumstances. In particular, the negative immissions mentioned above are prohibited, as are positive immissions of smoke or soot, unpleasant fumes, noise or vibrations that have a harmful effect and exceed the limits of tolerance that neighbours owe each other in view of local usage, the location and the nature of the buildings. It will therefore be necessary to examine the specific circumstances of each case to determine whether these conditions have been met; the judge who has to rule on this type of case has wide discretionary powers.

Finally, it should be noted that Vaud law requires authorisation for the felling or topping of protected trees; similar laws exist in every canton, particularly Geneva.