The Neighbor Asks For Consent - What To Do? (Building Construction Law / Building Application)

You may have already experienced it. One day your neighbor rings your doorbell and asks you for a signature. He is planning a "small" structural change to his property and, according to the building authority, "only" needs your neighborly consent.

What would be the impact of my signature?

If you immediately grant neighborly consent with your signature, you would already waive any legal remedies against the building permit sought by your neighbor.

"The signing of a neighborly declaration of consent can lead to a violation of good faith due to an impermissible exercise of rights in the event of the subsequent assertion of neighborly rights protecting third parties, since the signatory behaves inconsistently if he waives such rights but later asserts such rights (cf. Verwaltungsgericht Gelsenkirchen, judgment of 12.11.2019 - Case No. 6 K 5557/17)."