In life, house decoration is a great event
But it's also a headache
Each owner has their own ideas when decorating
Chinese, American, European......
Knock on the wall and change the house type
It's also a common thing
But if you think of your house
You can do whatever you want
Behind closed doors, no one cares
It is possible to get into a lawsuit
Today, let's take a look at this case
Upstairs, the residents arbitrarily changed the layout of the kitchen and bathroom
The downstairs neighbor was overwhelmed
Disputes over neighboring rights
Details of the case
Luo and Zhou are in a community
Upstairs and downstairs neighbors
Zhou lives downstairs
Luo's father lives upstairs
The architectural plan states the unit
It is a three-bedroom, two-living room, two-bathroom, one-kitchen, and one-study layout
Luo Mou's original house type
The design plan is not satisfied
So at the time of renovation
Assertively will be the original kitchen location
Install a flush toilet and change it into a toilet
The original study was converted into a kitchen
After the renovation is completed
Luo's father moved in and used the house
Zhou who lives downstairs
I didn't know about the upstairs modifications
But when cooking in the kitchen
From time to time, there was a noise of a flushing toilet overhead
Suspicious, psychologically there is a "diaphragm"
After visiting the door, the inner conjecture was confirmed
Passed to the Fuzhou City Construction Archives
Access the building design plan
Zhou filed a lawsuit with the Gulou District People's Court of Fuzhou City
Asked Luo to restore the layout of the house to
The original house design and planning pattern
Heard by the courts
After on-the-spot investigation, the Gulou Court confirmed that the architectural design of the unit in the building should be a three-bedroom, two-living room, two-bathroom, one-kitchen, and one-study layout, and that the layout of the houses of Zhou and other residents was consistent with the location indicated in the architectural design drawings, but Luo modified the original kitchen location without authorization and converted it into a bathroom with shower facilities and a flush toilet, and changed the location of the original study into a kitchen, and installed kitchen facilities such as stoves and sinks.
After trial, the Gulou Court held that Luo and Zhou's houses were adjacent to each other, and the two parties should handle the adjacent relationship in accordance with the principles of convenience for life, solidarity and mutual assistance, and fairness and reasonableness. Although the renovation of the house is an exercise of one's own rights, it cannot exceed the limits of justification and reasonableness, and it should actively prevent and avoid adverse effects on neighboring parties. Luo's unauthorized change of the use of housing planning and design not only violated the mandatory provisions of the Ministry of Construction's "Administrative Measures for Residential Interior Decoration and Decoration" and "Residential Design Code", but also inevitably destroyed the sewage and waterproof facilities of the overall planning and construction of the unit, which was enough to adversely affect the living environment and housing quality and safety of adjacent residents, and also violated public order, good customs and social morality. Accordingly, the court ruled that Luo restored the renovated bathroom and kitchen in his house to the original design function.
Luo appealed, and the court of second instance rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.
What the judge said
The owner has the right to modify his house, but he must comply with the relevant laws and regulations, and the corresponding modification must be legal and compliant, and must not violate public order and good customs, hinder the legitimate rights and interests of other neighbors, so as to exceed the "tolerance limit" of neighbors. The core values of socialism advocate freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law, integrity, and friendliness, and every citizen has the obligation to strive to build a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful modern socialist country.
As an injured party, when its own rights and interests are infringed, it can communicate with the owner and the property management company for rectification, pay attention to collecting and retaining relevant evidence in the process of communication, and report to the relevant competent department when the communication fails, or file a lawsuit with the court to actively protect its rights.
Links to legal provisions
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 236 stipulates that where a real right is obstructed or may be obstructed, the right holder may request that the obstruction be removed or the danger eliminated.
Article 233 stipulates that if the property right is infringed, the right holder may resolve it through conciliation, mediation, arbitration, litigation and other means.
Measures for the Administration of Residential Interior Decoration and Decoration
Article 5 stipulates that the following behaviors are prohibited in residential interior decoration activities: (1) changing the main body of the building and load-bearing structure without the original design unit or the design unit with the corresponding qualification level; (2) changing the room or balcony without waterproof requirements into a bathroom and kitchen room; (3) expanding the size of the original doors and windows on the load-bearing wall, removing the bricks connecting the balcony, (4) Damaging the original energy-saving facilities of the house and reducing the energy-saving effect; (5) Other behaviors that affect the safety of the building structure and use. The main body of the building in these measures refers to the structural structure of the building entity, including roofs, floors, beams, columns, supports, walls, connecting joints and foundations. The load-bearing structure in these measures refers to the main structural components and its connecting joints that are directly transmitted to the foundation with its own weight and various external forces, including load-bearing walls, poles, columns, frame columns, piers, floor slabs, beams, roof trusses, suspension cables, etc.
Article 38 stipulates that if there is one of the following acts in residential interior decoration activities, the administrative department of urban real estate shall order correction and impose a fine: (A) the room or balcony without waterproof requirements is changed to a bathroom or kitchen, or the bricks connecting the balcony are removed. In the case of concrete walls, a fine of not less than 500 yuan but not more than 1,000 yuan shall be imposed on the decorator, and a fine of not less than 1,000 yuan but not more than 10,000 yuan shall be imposed on the decoration and decoration enterprises; (2) if the original energy-saving facilities of the house are damaged or the energy-saving effect is reduced, a fine of not less than 1,000 yuan but not more than 5,000 yuan shall be imposed on the decoration and decoration enterprises; (4) If the original design unit or the design unit with the corresponding qualification level puts forward a design plan, and increases the floor load in excess of the design standards or specifications without authorization, the decorator shall be fined not less than 500 yuan but not more than 1,000 yuan, and the decoration enterprise shall be fined not less than 1,000 yuan but not more than 10,000 yuan.
Expert commentary
Tang Shiya, Associate Professor, School of Law, Fuzhou University
With the general improvement of social living standards, residents have more demand for the design form and content of house decoration, and how to deal with the adjacent relationship in this case is also a hot issue concerned by social public opinion and legal practice.
The owner of adjacent rights to immovable property shall correctly handle the adjacent relationship in accordance with the principles of conducive to production, convenient life, solidarity and mutual assistance, fairness and reasonableness, and the adjacent parties shall have the obligation of appropriate tolerance within a reasonable range.
In this case, the defendant Luo changed the layout of the building without authorization, changed the original kitchen location into a bathroom, and changed the original study location into a kitchen, which not only destroyed the sewage and waterproof facilities of the overall planning and construction of the unit, but also exceeded the limit of the legal tolerance obligation of the adjacent residents, and violated the mandatory provisions of the "Measures for the Administration of Residential Interior Decoration and Decoration" and the "Residential Design Code", which was enough to adversely affect the living environment and the quality and safety of the adjacent residents. The court's judgment accurately defined the standard of nuisance and the limits of the neighboring party's obligation to tolerate, and protected the legitimate interests of the right holders of the adjacent relationship. This case also enlightens us that although the renovation of a house is an exercise of one's own rights, it should not exceed the limits of legitimacy and reasonableness, and should actively prevent and avoid adverse effects on adjacent residents, so as to jointly create a harmonious and beautiful living environment.
Source: WeChat public account of Fujian High Court
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