My parent's next door neighbor is building a new edition on their house that includes a garage. The new edition replaces a smaller detached garage. City zoning ordinance allows them to build 3 feet from the property line (I guess most places it is 10 feet). That doesn't include the overhang from the roof, so the roof is even closer.

The new edition will turn their back yard, which is already very narrow, into essentially a back alley. My parents tried to fight the approval at the city meeting and lost.

Right now the big concern is water drainage.

The developer is apparently less than honest. The original plan claimed that there was no need for a drainage plan, as there was no change to the original structure. This is a lie - the roof of the new building has a much larger surface area, and they changed the downspout location from draining off the back of the old garage, to the side on the new, which means they will be draining all their water across my parents patio and into the basement.

Dad caught this, and at the approval meeting the city said the developer was required to install a catch basin sufficient to manage all water runoff and pipe the water to the street. However, they still required no plan, and apparently we have to take their word (which has proven less than honest) that the drainage is 'sufficient'.

They have been working for a couple months now, the shell is up, it looks like they will be putting the roof on soon. I am assuming that means the gutters will go on next. I have seen no evidence that they have installed a catch basin, plumbing, or anything to take care of the water drainage.

The construction has run into unanticipated problems and is turning into a money pit, I am concerned that the drainage is one of the areas that they will take shortcuts, if they ever planned to properly do it at all.

I don't know what we can do about it to force them to either stop or fix the issue, but at what point should the catch basin and plumbing be installed, so that I can tell if it is going to be done at all? Right now, I see no evidence that anything has been done.

I have personally talked to the construction manager when he was on site inspecting a month ago and told him my concerns, he said he would pass them along. We have heard nothing since, they don't talk to us, and they are obviously not going to be good neighbors.

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Common sense isn't so common.

Possibly a wild shot but see about contacting the Army Core of Engineers. They tend to get involved in many small water drainage issues, and they have a lot of power.

Present a very strong case as you can, catch basin is a good buzz word to get their attention!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Or contact the county building inspector he will be making visit to the site to approve electrical and plumbing installs as the building progressively grows

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As long as the drainage solution was written up as part of the approval for the permit,your parents should be covered.It would need to be inspected and signed off by the building department.

Yep that. I would stay on the county inspector, zoning guy plus their contractor. Their contractor/building manager would hate me because I would be on his butt every single day.

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What Would John Galt Do?

It seems strange to me that the civil authorities & their inspectors aren't all over this. Maybe that's because our State Motto in California is "You got a permit for that?"

If the City isn't going to do anything, I'd say your parents have to take the property owners to court in a civil suit. I don't know if I'd want to get the U.S. Government involved, after reading how they shut down a home owner and issued millions of dollars in fines, because a seasonal puddle on his land was considered a "wetlands". They hold the position that ANY amount of water present means they get to control private property.

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TEAM DNF

Take lots of pictures of every phase. Document everything. Send registered letters to local building department, land use department, and even city/county counsel expressing your concerns. Here, we have a department that oversees stormwater management.
In my part of the world, Seattle, there is a strict percentage of impervious surface you can have on your property. This includes roofs, out buildings, and paved surfaces. And every plan review must include a drainage plan.
Although it will be on your nickel, you might want to consult a soils engineer.
Are you on septic system where there might be drain fields affected?
Look in your area for drainage contractors and ask them about local codes.
Good Luck

The city (really a village) is a problem. At the approval meeting, it was pretty obvious that some sort of arrangement had been made between the village and the neighbors. The board that does the approval are all just volunteers, so there isn't any recourse there. I suppose the best course of action is to keep on the village inspector, but I don't know if he is willing to rock the boat.

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Common sense isn't so common.

Every building requires a permit (except in some communities and exception is allowed for small sheds) and the permit has to be signed off by the municipality, in this case, the village. If they sign off and the work wasn't done according to plans and code, you can take the builder and the village to court. You may also want to get the state involved, as many states have building codes that are either supposed to be enforced by local governments, or supersede local codes.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Maybe a threatening letter on law office letterhead threatening a suit to force a stop-work order until the drainage issue is complete.

Might want to prepare for basement flooding problems, just in case.

Good luck.

First and foremost...

Call the building inspector and discuss your concerns while also addressing what was said at the approval meeting.Since you or your parents don't know what should be done (or when) the building inspector should be more than willing to allay your fears by explaining the code and how it can be complied with.

If your parents property is significantly lower than that of their neighbors then proper drainage is a must.There isn't any two ways around it.

Worse case scenario is that you wait until everything is done.You and your parents are working on a huge ulcer and probably causing future tension between neighbors before there is even reasonable cause to do so.

Try and do a little research online to see if there's any info on building codes for your area.

Just a Whiskey Alpha Golf by a cynical old man, but which member of the approving board is related to the builder?

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Oh well, what the hell.

What does your parents lawyer say?

If you can demonstrate injury or damage to your parents property or value, you may have recourse through the legal system. If your local regulators aren't doing their due diligence you might call in state regulators. No idea what the Indiana laws are...everyone needs to conform with the Uniform Building Codes.

Do you know who the architect is? They may be willing to talk...

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Even older, even crankier....

If your inclined to do some work to protect the property, I'll tell you what worked for us.

My son, who lived in the basement, woke us up around midnight because of flooding in his room. A winter rainstorm fell on frozen ground and created a lake 6" deep between the houses.

My husband grabbed a pickaxe and broke through the frozen earth in half a dozen places, along the low point in the grade. He then took posthole diggers and went down as far as he could in those places. Took about an hour, in the middle of the night, in a cold rain, but by the time he finished the lake was gone and the leak in the basement stopped.

Later he filled the holes with gravel to create permanent drywells and re-graded the side yard to add pitch away from the house, and toward the dry wells. We never had another problem with water in the basement after that.

I recall he ordered 25 cubic yards of topsoil to build up the grade on that side of the house, for just over $200.

I talked to the village inspector today. He says that the permanent drainage will be put in toward the end of the project, but that they are required to manage all of the drainage. He said that the gutters will probably go up after the roofing is done, and that they will probably install a temporary plastic pipe to run the water to the street. He does stop by periodically to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. He understands our concerns with the drainage and looks like he will stay on top of it.

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Common sense isn't so common.

...in the oldest part of town with the tightest restrictions had the same problem. Even after the place was built he took pictures of the damage that was being caused by the run off and pushed the board, but go nowhere. The guy obviously had some friends on the building regulation board.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

If the builder fails to get all work completed to the inspectors satisfaction I doubt any sign off will take place. Failing to get the sign off may very well cause problems with the neighbours insurance. That would be two sided. Pressure on neighbour to be insured but risk to your parents in the event of damage to their property by an uninsured party.

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Old Guys Rule!

I have an update to the construction fiasco, pardon my poor attempt an ASCII map (not to scale). Assume the top is north. The new garage is only 3 feet from the property line. My parent’s house is about 8 feet from the line. So the garage is only about 11 feet or so from my parent’s house.

'new' is the new garage that replaces an old garage, but bigger. Originally, water drained from the old garage north, into the old neighbor’s yard, which did create a problem for them. I think the old neighbor contacted the new neighbor about fixing the drainage. I can't fault the neighbor for trying to fix his problem. The new neighbor said he would, and ‘suggested’ that there was no need for him to attend the village approval meeting (and voice any objections).

The first several sets of plans they submitted over the summer and fall showed the water draining west from the new garage, into my parent’s basement. The plans stated that this was no change, therefor no drainage plan was necessary. Dad caught this and raised objections. The new neighbor was then required to install a catch basin at the SW corner of the new garage, drain the water south into the catch basin, and pipe it south into the street.

Last week, the construction manager happened to be there, so we questioned him about the drainage. He got defensive, said he only was responsible for building ‘according to plan’, and that he was only going to grade it so that the water runs toward the street (no catch basin or plumbing). Their lot is also a foot higher than my parents, so guess where the water will go.

So back to the village inspection engineer to explain the situation. He pulled out the most recent plans, and it indeed shows a catch basin and plumbing piping runoff to the street. He says he will keep on them, and they WILL do it according to plan. An interesting side note - there used to be a drawing with the catch basin penciled in. It was gone, the engineer doesn’t know what happened to it. No explanation for what happened to it.

So the situation:

1) At the same time the new neighbor was telling the village that there was no change to the drainage, they were making deals with the old neighbor to change the drainage to entice him to not go to the meetings. (They deliberately lied to the city in their plans)

2) In effect they attempted to get approval to flood my parents basement.

3) At the approval meeting, they obviously came to some sort of arrangement with the city approval board, they wouldn’t even listen to us. We were actually lectured about how much nicer it will be to stare at the side of their garage rather than open sky.

4) They are currently trying to cut corners and weasel out of installing the drainage as required in the plan. (They are still lying about the drainage).

About our only hope is the city engineer stays on top of them. He says that he won’t sign off unless they follow the plan. I’m wondering if they are plotting to not do it and then claim, “Oh, we didn’t know we had to do that! Well, you can’t make us tear it all up now that it’s finished!”

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Common sense isn't so common.

Lawyers are not the Most Popular People around (Understatement)
But this Appears to be the Perfect Situation to Employ one

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Compact 9mm Just my $0.02

^^^Yep if the water run off onto your parents property does cause damages then an attorney will be the next step.

The minute you mentioned the Village allows building within 3 feet of the property line I had a pretty good idea that a train wreck was likely to follow. Keep good records for the lawyer. Hold everyone accountable.

Hope things get worked out.

People regard Building Codes as written in black and white statements. But they all include a 'general philosophy' of intent. I don't know which Building Code the situation you describe is being built under, but you can find out from the Village Building Engineer. IMHO, you should purchase a set of the general structural code and read it from cover to cover. Somewhere in that code will be the "general provisions". I am certain that the general guidelines for design of water runoff design requirements will be outlined there. I worked as a General Contractor under three different Building Codes. The Uniform Building Code System was adopted by far more political entities than any other. But, everyone of them said that ALL property owners must design structures, water diversion devises and grading to prevent runoff of water across private property lines. IMHO, you should have a lawyer write a letter on your parent's behalf to all members of the Village Council and point out that proviso of their adopted code. Part and parcel of the letter will be a thinly veiled threat to sue any and all "officials" of the Village if they don't enforce their code vis a vis water runoff requirements. That would fall under "Malfeasance of Office" suit. And, a similar letter to the Home Owner's Insurance Company of the potential offending party. And, a similar letter to the potential offending party's mortgage company. A successful lawsuit for damages automatically becomes eligible to be a lien on the property of the offending party. The more pressure you can bring on the potentially offending party at this time will insure compliance of their part to prevent any water damage to the property of your parents. DON'T wait until the damage occurs. The costs of repair and legal activity go up exponentially. The more dollars of the actual damage was the longer the legal system will take to deal with it. The power of the registered 'warning' letter is not to be under estimated.

An Aside: Because of the short distance from your parent's basement wall and the offending water the ONLY safe solution is to pipe that water to the Village Street and the existing runoff water system. A "French Drain" placed at the corner of that new structure will allow ground water to migrate to your parent's basement wall ...eventually.