While houses were once divided into multiple rooms lit by small windows, today the walls are knocked down and their openings enlarged to take advantage of vast bright spaces.
Jobs that do not depend on your own will, however.
Beware of neighbors' privacy
To preserve the peace of the neighborhood, the Civil Code imposes strict rules in terms of creating an opening with a view. By that mean windows, doors and balconies. If, while being inside your home, your installation allows you to see directly to your neighbor, then we speak of a “straight view”. Therefore, you must respect a distance of 1.9 m between your window or the end of your terrace and the boundary of the land of the other owner. On the other hand, if this opening gives you only an indirect view or "oblique view" at his place, only a distance of 0.6 m is imposed. In this case, you must indeed lean outside your window to play the voyeur, which reduces the risks.
And you better be thorough in your measurements if you want to avoid being sued in court.
If the wall separating the two properties belongs to you, you will have to take its thickness into account.
And in the case of a party wall, it will only take half of its width.
Workaround
These rules only apply when two private lots are contiguous. So you don't have to worry about it if your property is next to a street or a public garden. The same is also true if your window overlooks a wall, a closed roof or the sky, such as some skylights installed on the roof. On the other hand, nothing prevents to arrange between neighbors to go beyond these legal limits. But be careful to put this agreement in writing and have it registered by a notary to avoid any subsequent disagreement, especially in the event of the sale of one or other of the homes.
Otherwise, you can be satisfied with creating a "day of suffering", that is to say a window allowing only light to pass through without allowing you to see through.
It is then a question of installing a non-opening frame with translucent and opaque glass, all lined with an iron lattice.
If the size of such an installation is not regulated, it must nevertheless be located 2.6 m above the floor for a ground floor and 1.9 m on the upper floors.
Other obstacles in sight
Does your project comply with the requirements of the Civil Code? That doesn't mean you can take action, though. As soon as you change the exterior appearance of a building, you must at least make a prior declaration of work to the town hall. And if your roof window is accompanied by an attic arrangement measuring more than 20 m2, you will need a building permit. Not to mention that the local urban plan can get involved by imposing to respect certain rules in terms of dimensions, shape or color.
Finally, your condominium can also slow down your creativity.
In a building, it is necessary to obtain the favorable vote of the general assembly of the co-owners to be able to pierce a window.
As for the individual pavilions in co-ownership, they must again respect the exterior aesthetics laid down in the regulations of the subdivision.
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