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Private house design: legal aspect

This posts examines the legal aspects that must be taken into consideration when designing a private house. It highlights the importance of obtaining the proper permits and licences before commencing construction, and outlines the potential risks of non-compliance. The article then explains the consequences of infringement, and outlines how to properly secure permits and avail services from the relevant authorities. Finally, it provides an insight into the most common issues associated with private house design and construction. This article presents a clear and concise summary of the necessary legal considerations one should take when designing and building a house, offering a valuable resource for anyone embarking on such a project.

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Is it possible to build houses without a project

Russian legislation allows the construction of individual houses without projects, provided that they meet a number of criteria:

  • be objects of individual housing construction;
  • only one family will live in them;
  • the height of the building will be no more than three floors.

But the main problem is that there are several points of view on how to count floors. According to Instruction No. 37 of August 4, 1998, the number of floors in a building is determined by the number of ground floors. That is, the basement floor, if it is 2 meters or more higher than the level of the ground level, can be ignored. The same opinion is shared by the Federal Agency for Real Estate Cadastre in its letter No. AM / 1567, which states that only aboveground floors are taken into account when determining the number of storeys..

But the Ministry of Economic Development has a different point of view on this issue. Letter No. OG-D23-1426 states that there is no such concept as “number of storeys” in the legislation, there is only the term “number of floors”, which must include both underground and ground floors. There is also judicial practice confirming this position of the Ministry of Economic Development. In decision No. 2-2724 / 2012, the Anapa City Court denied the expert’s arguments that the basement was not included in the number of floors of the house, since, in the court’s opinion, the expert did not cite a single normative act confirming this position.

Thus, when calculating the floors of a house that will be built without a project, the basement, basement, attic and all other levels should be taken into account. Of course, you can take a risk and not include the basement in the number of floors, but you should be prepared that the regulatory authorities and the court may not agree with such a position.

There are several types of premises in the legislation that absolutely should not be taken into account when calculating the number of floors in a house:

  1. Underground – a room of any size and height, located between the first and basement floors, designed to accommodate piping systems.
  2. Interfloor space – any room located between floors, the height of which does not exceed 1.8 meters.

According to the Town Planning Code, a building permit is a document that confirms that the building project complies with the site planning project and other legal requirements. That is, if a building does not have a project at all, it will not be possible to obtain permits for its construction and it will be considered arbitrary.

In the previous article, we already wrote that both administrative responsibility and the complete demolition of a building at the request of state bodies or persons whose interests are infringed upon by the construction are relied on for the squatter..

Private house design: legal aspect

But when obtaining a permit for the construction of a building for individual housing construction and a height of no more than three floors, a detailed project is not needed at all. It is enough to provide the state authorities with a draft design and a diagram, which will show how the building will be located relative to the surrounding buildings..

How to draw up a contract with designers

Any design organization has its own standard contract, which is concluded with all customers. But it will not be superfluous to carefully study it and make sure that the draft agreement contains a number of provisions that in the future can greatly facilitate the customer’s life and protect him from the contractor’s unfair actions:

  1. The period during which the finished project must be handed over to the customer.
    Example:within _ days from the date of conclusion of the contract.
  2. List of works that designers must perform.
    It is best to issue it as a separate annex to the agreement..
  3. Responsibility of the contractor and the customer for failure to fulfill their obligations under the contract.
    Example:in case of violation of the terms of payment, the Customer shall pay the Contractor a penalty in the amount of 0.1% of the unpaid cost of services for each day of delay. For violation of the terms of the transfer of the project, the Contractor pays the Customer a penalty in the amount of 0.1% of the contract amount for each day of delay.
  4. Conditions under which the contract price can be changed (a very relevant item in our time).
    Example:if, during the term of the agreement, the official exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar increases by more than 30%, the total amount of the agreement must be increased by as much as the rate of the ruble will increase during this time.
  5. Contractor’s liability insurance to the customer.
    In the event of damage to the customer due to mistakes in the work of the designers, such a condition will help the customer to quickly receive compensation from the insurance company, and she, in turn, will collect this money from the contractor.

Responsibility of the designer for errors in the project. Arbitrage practice

Imagine a situation: cracks began to appear on the facade of a building built according to the project, and the reason for this was errors in the calculations of the designers. In such a case, according to the Civil and Urban Planning Code, the authors of the project are directly responsible and are obliged to compensate for the damage caused through their fault..

It is enough for the owner of the building to sue them, attaching a contract for the performance of design work to the claim and demanding an examination in the claim, which can confirm that the damage was caused precisely because of the wrong actions of the designers. But in the event that the customer signed an agreement with a construction organization, and she herself has already hired a design company, compensation for losses should be claimed from the developer.

There are many examples of such cases in Russian judicial practice. Thus, the Arbitration Court of Appeal in case No. А45-10460 / 2013 made a decision obliging the designer to compensate the damage caused to the customer due to the design documentation, which was executed without taking into account the regulatory and technical requirements of Russian legislation. Even the fact that this project had previously received a positive opinion from Glavexpertiza of Russia did not affect the opinion of the court. As stated in the decision: “this is not a basis for releasing the guilty person from civil liability”.

Thus, ordering a home project is not as easy as it seems at first glance. But by following the recommendations given in this article, the customer can easily avoid troubles that may arise due to the dishonesty of the designers or the actions of the employees of the regulatory authorities..

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Comments: 2
  1. Giselle

    What are the legal aspects one should consider when designing a private house?

    Reply
  2. Skylar Clarke

    Can you provide information on the legal aspects of private house design? What permits or regulations are required before starting the construction process? Are there any restrictions or guidelines on building materials, property boundaries, or architectural design? How can one ensure compliance with local zoning laws and building codes?

    Reply
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