Sometimes, the habits and behaviour of neighbours can lead to conflicts. Therefore the Civil Code of Quebec provides for rights and obligations between neighbours, as well as the municipalities that modify or complete these provisions with by-laws.

Although the law imposes a certain degree of tolerance on you, it may happen that the inconveniences related to your neighbour’s habits exceed an acceptable level of tolerance and inconvenience you.

While it is normal to hear someone mowing their lawn on a Saturday late in the morning, or neighbours celebrating St. Jean Baptiste Day on the evening of June 24, some annoyances can become so significant that they prevent us from fully enjoying our property.

Neighbourhood disturbances can be related to rights of way, trees, common walls, views, fences, noise, snow, smoke, animals, etc. Neighbourhood disturbances can also occur between tenants of the same building.

Here are some examples that could be considered as a neighbourhood disturbance:

The noise of the neighbour’s heat pump prevents you from sleeping;

• Your neighbours refuse you access to their property to renovate your shed;
• The neighbour has been doing round saw work every weekend morning for months;
• Your neighbour spies on you;
• Your neighbour’s tree branches are damaging your roof;
• The neighbour has built a hot tub that is partially on your property;
• Your neighbour has installed his eavestroughs so that water falls directly onto your property;

If your neighbour refuses to correct the situation after you have tried to resolve the problem amicably, it would be wise to consult your lawyer rather than applying the law of retaliation: “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. The situation can only get worse.