Liability of the property owner for unavoidable emissions during construction work

Facts

The Swiss Life Insurance and Annuity Institution, as the owner of a property in Zurich, had renovation and remodeling work carried out on its building from February 1982 to October 1983. In the process, construction installations were set up on public land, which led to impairments of the accessibility and visibility of the neighboring plaintiff's retail stores, the Alexandre SA. The Alexandre SA then filed a claim for damages.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court confirmed its previous case law, according to which the property owner is generally liable for exceeding its property rights under Art. 679 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), but that in the case of construction work, there may be unavoidable emissions that far exceed the permissible limits in terms of type, intensity and duration. In such cases, there is a gap in the law that the judge must close by recognizing the affected…