Building case: Distance to boundary of neighbouring property

Petter wishes to build a garage in his garden. The garden is small and as Petter wishes to build a large garage the only possible placement is one metre from the boundary to the neighbouring property belonging to Reidar.

Petter sends an application to the municipality, which grants permission in accordance with Petter’s requested positioning, despite the fact that basically the law requires a distance of four metres to the neighbouring boundary.
Reidar appeals the decision to the County Governor. The County Governor disagrees with Reidar, and confirms the municipality’s building permit.

Reidar is still of the opinion that it was incorrect to make an exemption from the distance requirement. However, he is tired of all the arguments with Petter and puts his protests to one side. After one and a half years he is reinvigorated and decides to make a fresh attempt to put a stop to the building of the garage. Reidar complains to the Parliamentary Ombudsman and requests that he appraise the case. In view of the fact that the deadline for submitting complaints to the Ombudsman is one year from the final decision by a public agency, Reidar receives a letter from the office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman informing him that the case is time-barred for processing by this office.

Instead of appealing against the decision of the County Governor, Reidar wonders if he may submit a complaint against Petter’s actions and conduct. Reidar is of the opinion that these actions contravene against the provisions of the Neighbours Act and good neighbourly conduct. He therefore calls the office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman to inquire whether the Parliamentary Ombudsman can process a case of this type. He is informed that the Ombudsman can only process complaints against the public authorities and that such private law disputes are outside the Ombudsman’s remit.