Why am I not allowed to place a 2.40 meter high pergola against the neighbor's fence?

Questioner

We wanted to place a 2.40 meter high pergola against the shed in our backyard. Our neighbors think this is ugly and threaten to make things worse if we do this. That is why we decided not to do it after all. But what are the official rules for placing a pergola in your garden? I was under the impression that you do not need permission from your neighbors for such things, because a pergola is considered garden furniture and you can place it on your own property without a permit up to 2.50 meters. Moreover, in our neighborhood I see a lot of pergolas and canopies against fences and sheds of around 2.50 meters high. How does that work?

Lawyer

In retrospect, permit-free unless the pergola supports plants within a distance of 50 cm that reach higher than the fence.

Lawyer

A pergola on the backyard is a permit-free construction in the sense of the law. You do not have to respect a distance from the property boundary, but if you do, you must bear in mind that a neighbour may object to plants in the prohibited zone that you may want to grow on the pergola. The prohibited zone for plants is 50 cm from the property boundary. A neighbour may not object to plants that do not grow higher than the maximum permitted height of the fence. In short, a pergola may be placed on the backyard against the fence with plants no higher than 2 metres. If you want to grow a climbing plant, you must respect the legal distances with regard to plants.

Lawyer

You responded with the remark that you see higher buildings everywhere in the area. If a municipality systematically takes action against the same violations, one can possibly appeal to the principle of equality. If it concerns a violation of the law from the law of neighbours, then it is a purely personal matter of a neighbour to approve or not. As a result, a situation will eventually expire.