Recently, Mr. Fan was annoyed by his neighbor Mr. Li who willfully rebuilt his villa and caused serious damages to Mr. Fan¡¯s building. Mr. Fan negotiated with Mr. Li for several times over the repair of its building and compensations for damage, but all these negotiations failed, so Mr. Fan had no choice but brought a lawsuit to the Court. Recently, Shanghai Songjiang District People¡¯s Court (hereinafter referred to as ¡°Shanghai Songjiang Court¡±) concluded this Case and ordered Mr. Li to pay for his willfulness.

[Case Review]

The Plaintiff Mr. Fan and the Defendant Mr. Li were neighbors, and both lived a peaceful life until Mr. Li rebuilt his villa in violation of regulations. In mid-2016, the Defendant Mr. Li rebuilt his house by demolishing the old one and building a new one. The new building was a frame structure with 4-meter foundation pit was dug. During the rebuilding, the walls, grounds and ceramic tiles in the Plaintiff¡¯s house cracked and uneven ground settlements also occurred, so the Plaintiff brought the Case.
The Plaintiff requested the Court to order the Defendant to compensate the Plaintiff for the repair costs and other expenses as a result of the rebuilding by the Defendant in violation of regulations.

The Defendant argued that, the Plaintiff and the Defendant were neighbors indeed but the Plaintiff¡¯s representations about the rebuilding of the Defendant¡¯s house were not true; the damages of the Plaintiff¡¯s house was not caused only by the Defendant, but also by the rebuilding of other neighbors¡¯ houses; moreover, the Plaintiff himself also rebuilt and extended his house in violation of relevant regulations; and the Plaintiff¡¯s house was old and had cracks naturally; therefore in this Case, the condition of the Plaintiff¡¯s house was caused by many reasons, and the causes of damages shall be determined comprehensively.

 During the trial, as there was a dispute between the Plaintiff and the Defendant over the causes of damages and the repairing expenses, the Court entrusted a third-party expertise organization to identify whether this was a causal relationship between the damages to the Plaintiff¡¯s house (such as cracks and tilting) and the rebuilding of the Defendant¡¯s house. The judicial expert report showed that the construction of the foundation pit by the Defendant had an adverse effect on the Plaintiff¡¯s house and the expertise organization issued a repair plan. The Plaintiff raised no objection to the judicial expert report. However, the Defendant raised an objection and still denied that there was a causal relationship. Therefore, the experts clearly stated before the Court that, the expert report said that ¡°the construction of the foundation pit by the Defendant had an adverse effect on the Plaintiff¡¯s house¡± and "adverse effect" therein referred to damages caused to the Plaintiff¡¯s house such as cracks and uneven ground settlements and the construction of the foundation pit by the Defendant was the direct cause; and the activities of the Plaintiff such as building a sun room and a garage had no effect on the damages identified in the expert report.

In addition, as requested by the Plaintiff, the Court also entrusted a third-party evaluation organization to audit the repair expense set forth in the repair plan. The audit opinion was that, the repair cost of the Plaintiff¡¯s house was more than RMB 110,000. At the end, based on the opinions of the Plaintiff, the Defendant and the third-party organizations and after deducting the maintaining expenses not listed in the repair plan, the Court confirmed the repair loss as more than RMB 98,000.

[Case Study]

 Shanghai Songjiang Court held upon investigation that, in the spirit of benefiting production, making things convenient for people¡¯s lives, enhancing unity and mutual assistance, and being fair and reasonable, neighboring users of real estate shall maintain proper neighborly relations over such matters as water supply, drainage, passageway, ventilation and lighting. Anyone who causes obstruction or damage to his neighbor, shall stop the infringement, eliminate the obstruction and compensate for the damage.

 In this Case, the Plaintiff and the Defendant were neighbors. The Defendant demolished and rebuilt his house. During his rebuilding, the Plaintiff¡¯s house suffered damages. The causal relationship between the damages to the Plaintiff¡¯s house and the rebuilding of the Defendant¡¯s house was confirmed in the judicial expert report issued by a relevant organization; although the Defendant raised an objection to the judicial expert report, the report was recognized by the Court because related employees of the said organization appeared and replied the questions of the Plaintiff and the Defendant in court; in other words, the Court confirmed that there was a causal relationship between the damages to the Plaintiff¡¯s house and the construction of foundation pit by the Defendant. As for loss, based on the repair plan and the cost evaluation report, the Court confirmed the repair loss as more than RMB 98,000.

[Relevant Laws]

I.     General Principles of the Civil Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China

Article 83     In the spirit of benefiting production, making things convenient for people¡¯s lives, enhancing unity and mutual assistance, and being fair and reasonable, neighboring users of real estate shall maintain proper neighborly relations over such matters as water supply, drainage, passageway, ventilation and lighting. Anyone who causes obstruction or damage to his neighbor, shall stop the infringement, eliminate the obstruction and compensate for the damage.
II. Civil Procedure Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China

Article 253   If the person subjected to execution fails to fulfill his obligations with respect to pecuniary payment within the period specified by a judgment or written order or any other legal documents, he shall pay double interest on the debt for the belated payment. If the person subjected to execution fails to fulfill his other obligations within the period specified in the judgment or written order or any other legal document, he shall pay a charge for the dilatory fulfillment.

(Writers: Wan Xiaolan, Xu Pei, Shanghai Songjiang Court)