With the arrival of summer, the desire to barbecue is getting bigger, but there is a question to ask yourself before organizing a domestic barbecue: when you don't have adequate outdoor spaces available, you can grill on the balcony? To understand if you can use the classic portable barbecue on your balcony without running into problems with neighbors, you need to take into consideration several aspects. Let's see them together.

Grilling on the balcony: what the law says

There is no real law regarding barbecues on the balcony or terrace. Let's start fromarticle 844 of the Civil Code.

«The owner of a fund cannot prevent the introduction of smoke or heat, the fumes, the noises, the shaking and similar propagations deriving from the neighbor's bottom, if they do not exceed the normal tolerability, also with regard to the condition of the places. In applying this rule, the judicial authority must balance the needs of production with the reasons for ownership. It can take into account the priority of a specific use ".

Furthermore, in the judgment of March 18, 1992, no. 3204 the Court of Cassation states that "with regard to the emission of gases, vapors, fumes capable of offending, harassing or smearing the neighbors, such releases can only be authorized within the limits of normal tolerability, and therefore subject to the adoption of the necessary measures to avoid the exceeding these limits or those imposed by specific regulations ".

We can conclude that you can grill on the balcony or on the terrace with a barbecue, as long as the smoke emissions do not exceed one normal tolerability and are limited by adequate measures or specified by other regulations (condominium or municipal, for example).

The problem is that the threshold of normal tolerability It can change from person to person, from their habits and the condition of the places. It's all about common sense.

In 1998, sentence no. 5215 states that "the aptitude of gas, vapor or smoke emissions to harass people does not necessarily have to be ascertained by expert opinion, on the contrary, the judge, according to general rules, can found his own conviction in this regard on different types of evidence such as, in particular, the testimonial statements of those who are able to report the characteristics and effects of the aforementioned noises and emissions, when these statements do not result in the expression of merely subjective assessments or judgments of a technical nature, but merely refer to what is objectively perceived by the registrants themselves ".

It is therefore possible sue a neighbor if smoking bothers up to the point of exceeding normal tolerability and, to prove it, a simple one would be necessary witness.

Grilling on the balcony: what about the condominium rules?

Having said that, there are additional factors to consider: for example, condominium rules.

"With regard to the condominium in buildings, private autonomy allows the parties to enter into agreements that limit the dominical right of all or some of the condominiums to the parts of their exclusive property, in the interest of the whole condominium or part of it, and which prohibit, in particular, all or some of the condominiums from giving the individual real estate units one or more possible destinations, or oblige them to preserve their original destinations for the general utility of the whole building, or part of it "( Cass. 19 October 1998 no. 10335).

The condominium rules they can clearly ban the barbecue on the balcony: at this point, the rule would prevail over those of the civil code. In addition, many common or regions they do not allow fires to be lit due to the smog: it is therefore necessary to also view the municipal and region's resolutions.

Grilling on the balcony: a solution

One solution to limit smoke releases is to use a electric barbecue. The Weber Pulse, for example, eliminates the limitations related to the use of a gas or charcoal barbecue. No fuel, just an electrical outlet, very little smoke, small size and fast cooking: for barbecue enthusiasts who live in the city, the electric barbecue is ideal.

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