Architectural barriers

Installing an elevator greatly facilitates the life of the neighbors, but it can complicate things for the business on the ground floor. This happened in a community that decided to eliminate the architectural barriers of its building. The only technically and economically viable option was to place the elevator in the stairwell . The problem was that the work would occupy a small part of the kitchen of a bar-restaurant and would require removing the interior staircase that connected the ground floor with the basement.

The company that owned the premises opposed it. They argued that the installation would prevent the proper use of the establishment and raised urban planning and safety issues. As an alternative to rejecting the work, they requested compensation of 79,900 euros. The community, for its part, argued that the business should allow the necessary works , although it accepted compensating for the damages and proposed to install a freight elevator to replace the communication between the plants.

The Supreme Court (TS) explains that the community can impose a "servitude" or simply put, force the owner to allow a part of their premises to be used for installing a common service. But that possibility has limits . It cannot render the property unusable nor turn the right of ownership into something devoid of content. In this case, it was accepted that the restaurant could continue operating, provided that the service staircase was replaced with a solution that maintained the necessary connection between the kitchen and the basement. Furthermore, the least harmful alternative for the establishment had to be chosen.

Now, allowing the installation does not mean to bear its consequences for free . The TS corrects the treatment of the compensation since the compensation must be addressed in the same procedure that authorizes the occupation, without forcing the owner to start another uncertain lawsuit to claim it. The amount exact calculation can be determined later, when executing the statement, but the rules for doing so must be established.

That calculation may include the value of the occupied space, the cost of the solution that replaces the staircase, the necessary adaptations, the loss of value of the premises, and the income that will be lost during the works. Ultimately, the elevator can move forward, but the damages it causes to the business must also be addressed.