A builder may not allow a tower crane to swing over a neighboring property without notice. This was decided by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Stuttgart (AZ: 4 U 74/22). In the case in question, two future neighbors in the Ludwigsburg district were in dispute. This was because the builder had erected a tower crane on the property boundary for the construction of two semi-detached houses and four garages.
The 28-meter jib of the tower crane, however, swung over the property of his neighbor (the plaintiff) several times without notice, with and without a load. On one occasion, the tower crane got caught on the overhead line with heavy precast concrete parts. This not only shook the attic of the neighbor's house, but also caused him to lose power.
The neighbor then sued the Heilbronn Regional Court for immediate injunctive relief against the tower crane overturning his property. The Regional Court affirmed a claim for injunctive relief, but only in the case of overturning with loads. The plaintiff appealed against this decision. He also did not want the tower crane to swing over his property again without loads. The OLG ruled in favor of the plaintiff, also because the builder had not - as required - given two weeks' notice of the overturning of the tower crane.
Source: oberlandesgericht-stuttgart.justiz-bw.de/4 U 74/22
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