Facts
The case concerns a dispute between the owners of three terraced houses built on neighboring plots. The owners of the upper building (plot no. 4489) have a right of encroachment (land easement) over the lower plots (nos. 4490 and 4305) belonging to the other owners. In 2009, the owners of the upper building installed a photovoltaic system on the roof that encroaches on the neighboring plots. The owners of the lower plots filed a lawsuit to demand the removal of this installation. The cantonal courts dismissed the claim. The owners of the lower plots appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It considered that the right of encroachment granted to the owners of the upper building includes not only the roof itself, but also its development, provided that it remains within the normal exercise of the easement and does not substantially modify the nature of the roof. Thus, the photovoltaic installation, insofar as it is discreetly integrated into the roof without fundamentally altering its characteristic, is part of the developments authorized by the right of encroachment.
The Federal Supreme Court noted that the purpose of the easement, as it emerges from the constitutive act, is to assign the ownership of the upper floors and the roof to the owner of the dominant property, without…