Hammer blow and ladder law
The hammer blow and ladder rights are terms from neighboring German law .
The hammer law allows a landowner , the land of neighbors to join in order to his own building to carry out repair work.
The ladder right allows him to set up scaffolding on the neighboring property and possibly to temporarily store equipment and materials there.
These principles are regulated in the neighboring laws of the federal states .
The following is an example of Section 24 Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Neighboring Law of North Rhine-Westphalia :
(1) The owner and the beneficial owner must tolerate that their property including, structural works , for the purpose of construction or repair work on the neighboring property temporarily enter and used if and to the extent
- the work cannot otherwise be carried out appropriately or only at disproportionately high costs,
- the disadvantages or nuisances associated with the acquiescence are not disproportionate to the benefit sought by the beneficiary,
- adequate precautions are taken to reduce the disadvantages and nuisances and
- the project does not contradict public law regulations.
(2) The right is to be exercised as gently as possible. It may not be asserted at the wrong time.
The neighbor must be informed of the intention to exercise this right before it is exercised. The notification must be made between two weeks and a month in advance, depending on the federal state. If the neighbor prohibits entry and use of his property, the property may not be entered without further ado. Instead, a judicial decision must be brought about. If damage occurs as a result of the delay, this must be replaced by the neighbor if the prohibition was unlawful.
The state laws also regulate the conditions under which compensation for the use of the neighboring property is to be paid. If neighboring property is impaired when exercising the hammer blow and ladder right, there may be an obligation to pay compensation .
