A larger garden seating area, a solar panel, a new housing development or a new football stadium. Construction projects are finding it increasingly difficult due to the flood of objections.
Annoying for those wanting to build: objections are pouring in more and more often. Why is that? We are trying to put the development into context. The first explanation is actually logical: more and more is being built, which means that the number of objections to building is also increasing. The second reason is natural: Switzerland is a small country with a high population density. As a result, many building projects are located in densely populated areas and cities, people get in each other’s way, residents and neighbors fight back, defending their territory by all means. The strong Swiss tradition of citizen participation and democratic processes also rightly encourage active participation in decision-making processes. Everyone can and wants to have a say and represent their interests. Not only private individuals, but also interest groups of all kinds and politicians use the means of building objections as a welcome platform for profiling.
Justified or even coercion?
Objections are fundamentally legitimate, and often necessary. However, more and more often, projects that comply with the law are delayed from a position of power or prevented out of sheer desire for resistance. This means that construction is becoming more and more of a gauntlet. Zurich professor and real estate expert Peter Ilg made a very pointed statement in the NZZ of June 8, 2024: “With very little effort, projects can be delayed for years, which can cause massive financial damage to the developer. This gives those who are entitled to object a strong position of power. If you can exploit this position of power practically for free, this tempts all those who are not so strict about morality. Because it is only a small step from a justified objection to coercion. The options for objections provided for by law today are thus an invitation to semi-criminal behavior.” He continues: “Experienced lawyers from practice tell me clearly: it is usually not about justified claims, but simply about slowing down and preventing construction. We have evaluated the relevant figures. In the first and second instance, around 80 percent of all objections are rejected, withdrawn, declared irrelevant, or the court does not even consider the objection.”
For real estate companies, investors and private individuals, building objections are becoming an increasing nuisance. They delay or prevent construction projects and usually cost a lot of money. We wanted to know from experienced real estate and construction law attorney Thomas Gysi, Rosat Rechtsanwälte AG, whether Switzerland is simply a country of envious and intolerant people? “It is actually very easy to raise an objection against a building permit application in Switzerland. Nowadays, you have to expect objections for every building permit application. From the point of view of some developers, objections are sometimes described as a national sport, sometimes as legal blackmail. I wouldn’t go that far. But the long duration of the proceedings is certainly problematic, which is often, but not only, due to objections. For some investors, the extensive objection options and the long duration of the proceedings are a clear disadvantage for Switzerland as a location, which is why they only want to build abroad.”
“Objections must be justified and justified”
It is very easy to lodge an objection to planning permission, and everything seems possible. Can I also lodge an objection to my neighbour’s planning application – he wants to build a new and larger garage – just because I don’t like the guy? Gysi estimates: “In theory, that is not the case. Objections must be justified and justified, otherwise they will not be considered or will be rejected. In practice, legally unfounded objections for personal reasons also occur regularly. This is also due to the fact that the objectors do not bear any cost risk until the building permit is granted.”
Objection presented in a media-effective manner
The “Rives Publiques” association has lodged an objection to the boathouse that our national hero Roger Federer is planning on his property by the lake. In your opinion, is this objection justified or is an organization using the fame of a superstar to stage itself for media attention? “I am not involved in the process. However, the Rives Publiques association has posted its objection online and thus made it public, including the full address of the Federer family. This process alone shows that in this case, media attention may be the main focus. In its public objection, the association very blatantly criticizes the developer for basing its planning application on its status as “influential people”. At the same time, the association is exploiting the status of the superstar itself to stage its political concerns for media attention. Anyone who thinks evil of this is a scoundrel.”
Purely selfish motives
As a lawyer, Gysi has already accompanied countless construction projects. He remembers some unusual examples: “In one case, a cantonal transport project failed simply because it ran through around 1 square meter of nationally protected floodplain land. In other cases, it happens again and again that objections are submitted for purely selfish reasons under the guise of selfless issues, such as environmental or nature conservation. The true background to the objection becomes clear at the latest when a considerable sum of money is demanded for an objection to be withdrawn, without any adjustments being made to the construction project with regard to the issues complained about.”
Conversation doesn’t always help
There are often heated arguments between neighbors, residents and construction companies about what constitutes a legitimate building objection. How could such contentious cases be reduced? “In practice, personal motives are often the deciding factor as to whether or not an objection is raised. It is therefore advisable to speak to the affected neighbors before submitting a building application. However, this does not always help. Developers must therefore take into account an objection process that may last for years in their planning in order to avoid being blackmailed. From a legal perspective, clear legal principles and a rapid process help to minimize objections and their negative consequences.”
