Need help with house construction in adjacent plot.

[MariGold]

Hi All,

I had purchased a house in R.M nagar and the plot next to my house was vacant till now.
Today a contractor came to inspect the plot and making marking on the plot as they plan to construct the house.

My house shares 1 common side with the neighboring plot. The compound wall separating the house and the plot is ours.
Found from the house initial plan's blue print that his bed room will be adjacent to my Kitchen. As per the plan the bed room's wall will touch the compound wall and there is no gap left. Note: We had given 1.5 feet of space between the kitchen and the compound wall. (figure at the top of the uploaded image)

I had spoken to the contractor about not leaving the space as I felt that this will reduce the sunlight and air circulation for my kitchen. (he plans to construct only ground floor for now).

The plan to the right in the uploaded image is my constructed house and the plan to the left is the proposed plan of my neighbour's.

So he proposed 2 alternatives to me.

Proposal 1:-. Leave 1 feet gap between the bed room and the compound wall and still not keep the window for that side of the wall. (2nd plan in the uploaded image).

Proposal 2: Give a uniform gap of 2.5 feet along the entire length of the side facing the common compound wall and in turn use up the 2.5 feet of space he had left at the back. With this change he will have to move the window from the back to the side and face my kitchen. ( have not indicated this proposal in image).

Proposal 2 Will result in more common space (more room for light and air) but the only drawback is that of his bed room having an window facing my kitchen. Might lead to lot of issues in the near future (like smoke/smell from your kitchen is entering to my beed room. Shut the window for I am not able to sleep etc etc).

I felt proposal 1 was better as there is no window facing my kitchen therby avoiding a lot of unnecessary trouble.
What do you guys feel?. I am sure that many of you might have been in this kind of a scenario before.

Thanks for helping.

[msn1270]

I suggest to choose option 2.

Since his bed room window comes near to ur kitchen, it will be his choice, to use or close the window either for smoke/smell issue or privacy.
But you get maximum light and cross ventilatin area and also safety from poor construction issues arises in future.

Some of the safety or poor qualities issue are...

1) When there is water seapage on the adjacent wall(From attached Bath), if your wall is not directly attached, it can saves your compound wall life.

2) if there is any collapse of his wall, you get maximum safety as the distance is more between two walls.

3) In case of fire emergency in either of the house, you get more space for the fire drills.

4) In case of Gas cylinder bursts, your wall may not or gets less damaged as it has more gap between 2 walls, rather than directly attached.

[blrsiteseeker]

Just amazed at how close the original plan is to your property. Isn't this why we all need to get plan approval, to ensure that light, air etc. for every house is sufficient (granted, we all don't have huge plots), but leaving the required 2.5' of space provides some basic amount.

One house in our neighborhood is going on in a similar manner. The neighbor next to the house being constructed, although his plot is vacant at the moment, realized the problem, only after the construction is at quite an advanced stage. Now he had to go to court to get a stay order. But even though there is a stay order, the construction continues.

I wonder how people get away with such things.

I guess you are fortunate, to first have seen it at marking stage and second that the contractor/owner are amenable to make changes to accommodate your concerns. I hope it works out for the best for both of you. Good luck.

I agree with MSN - the space all along your compound option is better for you. But he is going to have issues with the back door neighbor by moving everything closer to his boundary.

[MariGold]

Thanks for replying.

The person whom I spoke to in the morning was the contractor who gave me those 2 proposals and told me that he will talk to the owner and get back to me no this.
But in the evening, a person (who introduced himself as the previous owner of the adjacent plot) called me and tells me that as per vasthu that area is Kubera moola and that he cannot leave any space there. He says that leaving 1 feet space will make his master bed room that much smaller and that it disrupts his whole construction plan.
I tried to bring about the issue of our kitchen having limited lighting/air circulation because of this for which he says that the 1.5 feet gap given by us must be sufficient.
Though he did not use any harsh words though the conversation, he was not ready to listen to any of my points though our about 6 min of telephonic conversation.

I guess the current plot owner must have approached the previous owner to argues on his behalf.

I was firm on my stand on this till the end so was he.

Hopefully my new TO BE neighbor is considerate enough and thinks from my view point also.

[blrsiteseeker]

Thanks for replying.

The person whom I spoke to in the morning was the contractor who gave me those 2 proposals and told me that he will talk to the owner and get back to me no this.
But in the evening, a person (who introduced himself as the previous owner of the adjacent plot) called me and tells me that as per vasthu that area is Kubera moola and that he cannot leave any space there. He says that leaving 1 feet space will make his master bed room that much smaller and that it disrupts his whole construction plan.
I tried to bring about the issue of our kitchen having limited lighting/air circulation because of this for which he says that the 1.5 feet gap given by us must be sufficient.
Though he did not use any harsh words though the conversation, he was not ready to listen to any of my points though our about 6 min of telephonic conversation.

I guess the current plot owner must have approached the previous owner to argues on his behalf.

I was firm on my stand on this till the end so was he.

Hopefully my new TO BE neighbor is considerate enough and thinks from my view point also.

Instead of arguing about lack of light/ air in your kitchen (which I bet he is least concerned about). You need to figure out the setback rules for the location, site dimensions etc. and ask them to stand by those rules. Just as he is not concerned about your ventilation issues, you should not worry about Kubera moole or Brahma sthana or whatever else he mentions. Just ask him to follow the setback rules stipulated for the area, the road width, site dimensions etc. Make sure you keep some contacts ready from BBMP/BDA or whatever agency your area falls under to come inspect and have them rectify before construction.

Also, be doubly sure that you have not broken any setback rules (otherwise, you cannot take this stance).


Good luck.

[vshenbag75]

Similar problem for my site. My site is inbetween two already constructed house.

Left building (corner plot) - left only 1.5 feet (includes compound wall) and also his stair case from groundfloor to thirdfloor touches compound wall.
Right builder - Half building constructed till compound wall and in front they left open for car parking.

I just started constructing but left side building guys filed complaint against me and forcing me to leave 2.5 feet.

Note: I have left 2.5 feet on all side except in front entrance where for 12 feet i extended till his compound wall (but well within my site limit) - this extension is done for house entrance stairs only.

My violation: 12 feet towards front which is close to his compound wall - gap is only 6 inches

His violation: He has left only 1 feet (excluding compound wall) -as per BBMP rule he should have left 2.5 feet, secondly his backside he has extended all his balcony till his compound wall - even this is against BBMP rule.

I talked with him but he keep shouting and arguing for each and every step of construction, first he told my house is blocking his house brightness (actually there is no brightness for my house - since my site is inbetween two house). He keep fighting and I could not tolerate this guy so blocked his number.

If it is a Rule then every one should abide by rule. Should I file another complaint against him?

Please help me on next step.

[ardesarchitects]

Hi,vShenbag
This is a routine problem in all the construction, the people who violated the rules expect others to follow. We generally don't understand the law properly. If a person has done mistake and his mistake is seen in day light standing strong and tall, we can also file a complaint on him.
I have faced similar situation and the other party complaining is a very well established doctor , he has touched his staircase and the top balconies to the site edge but wants our open to sky garden area dead wall not to touch compound wall.
In your case you can also complain the authorities for the the violation he has done but this will make your construction process delayed a bit. You should be ready for the same. You should make him to understand about the violations he has done first and then come to some common understanding.
Few things that many people think they are not violations but they are clear violations as per byelaws
1. Stair case touching to compound wall
2. Parking with slab covering touching compound wall, in-fact open car parking should also be with in setback lines as per sanction rules.
3. Balconies projecting in the first floor covering set backs
4. casting column / pillar in the setback lines
5. Making temporary structures like sheet / glass roofs covering setbacks

Hope these will give you some ammunition to talk to your neighbor


Regards,
Ar.Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
http://www.ardesarchitects.com
ardesarchitects@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/ardesarchitectsblr

[Visualizer]

Check the attached BBMP Bylaw Table 8 mentions the mandatory setbacks.

Just use this to talk to your neighbour.