harassment switzerland
Is it considered harassment if a neighbor threatens with legal actions on whatever I do on my property
<p>I hope this question is appropriate here.</p>
<p>I moved into a house in a nice neighborhood a few months ago. I get along with most neighbors very well, but there is the one troublemaker like in every community. I'm currently replacing my old and rotten wooden handrail next to some stairs which are used by all neighbors. They were not really usable as such in fear of splinters and if one would rely on them when he stumbles they would probably fall apart. The new ones are made of sturdy aluminum with LEDs for the night to see the steps better. So an improvement in every way.</p>
<p>This certain neighbor immediately contacted the authorities and harassed the contractors as he considers them unsafe as they are just handrails without paling, so a small child could walk under it and fall into a small ditch where a funicular runs in parallel. In this specific case he mentions his grandchild who actually lives there, he only owns the house and rents it to his daughters family.
I order some netting on the area where the fall to this ditch is above 1m, but for optics and the price I decided against it where the fall is only 50-60cm. I am aware if someone falls and gets injured, my insurance has to pay. But I don't see how he could force me to build a fence instead of just a handrail.</p>
<p>Talking with other neighbors, everyone dislikes that guy and against few of them he already took legal action. One had to cut down a tree a previous owner planted a bit too close to his property.</p>
<p>I am planning to a larger remodeling of my land and even though my property only touches his at a corner I fear he will again try to take legal action for whatever reason he feels fancy.</p>
<p>How can I prevent this or is there even a legal action I can take against him if it turns out as I fear?</p>

<h2>You must comply with the law even on your own property</h2>
<p>Things like handrails and fencing of potential falls are almost always subject to local building codes. &quot;[S]ome netting&quot; is unlikely to be compliant except as a temporary measure.</p>
<p>In addition, materially changing the functionality so that it becomes less safe, even if it complies, may expose you to liability if someone gets injured. Such as if the new handrail is replacing one which had measures to prevent someone from slipping under them.</p>
<h2>Harassment</h2>
<p>I'm unfamiliar with Swiss harassment laws but they usually require unwanted behaviour that offends, humiliates, intimidates, or creates a hostile environment and must usually be directed at a protected characteristic. Offending someone because you don't like them is fine; offending them because they are a woman is not.</p>
<p>A neighbour raising concerns with you, your contractors, or the authorities is not harassment. Nor is exercising his legal right to bring a lawsuit.</p>
<p>If it persists beyond what is reasonable it may cross over into stalking, but that's not harassment either.</p>

<p>There are quite strict regulations on how handrails need to be built if they (also) protect from a fall. The risk of a fall is assumed if the possible drop exceeds 1m. Additionally, in your case a funicular runs on the other side of the handrail, so even if one drops &quot;only&quot; 50cm, falling onto a track is a serious additional danger.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bfu.ch/de/ratgeber/gelaender-bruestungen" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here</a> you'll find the corresponding regulations of the BFU (swiss safety ministry), including a video explaining the different terms and a PDF with the details.</p>
<p>The relevant regulations for your case seem to be that the handrail needs to be at least 1m high and the lower 75cm need to be either a net or bars with a distance smaller than 12cm (the size of the head of a small child). According to that, it seems your neighbor is right if he complains about the safety of the child. I do wonder why nobody told you about this when you ordered the new fence. Did you install it yourself or did you hire someone for the installation?</p>
