Can you go to your neighbor's house to do work at home (ladder tower easement)?

Verified 01 March 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

A ladder tower easement is a right of way that allows you, as the owner of a wall or building adjacent to your neighbor’s land, to lay ladders or scaffolding on that land to do work on your property (e.g. refurbishing, repairing the roof). This right of passage is not based on any text. It is subject to the usual rules. The judges admit on a case-by-case basis to impose this easement for the construction of a new building.

You can pass on your neighbor's land if it does not exist no other way to make your repair work for your own good.

This work must be necessary (e.g. failure to complete it jeopardizes construction) or imposed (e.g. by regulation or court order).

However, the exercise of this right requires your neighbor's agreement. He'll allow temporarily to pass on his land.

You must formalize this agreement in writing. In this paper, it is recommended to define the following:

  • Duration of work
  • Passage dates and times
  • Crossing attitude (width, scaffolding, etc.)
  • Precautions to be taken to avoid damage to the terrain

You can use a template letter to write your mail:

Ask for permission to enter the neighboring land to do some work at home

FYI  

You can plan to compensate your neighbor by paying him an occupancy allowance for the disturbance of his land. The amount of this allowance is free.

If your neighbor refuses or if you don't get an answer, you may want to consider using a conciliator of justice (free of charge) or mediator (fee-based approach). You can also use a participatory procedure (paid approach with recourse to a lawyer).

If the disagreement persists, you can make an appeal to the court of justice of the place where your property is located.

Authorization is granted by the judge only in one of the2 cases following:

  • There is no other technical solution to do your job
  • There is another solution to do your work, but this solution is excessively complex.

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