Italian Supreme Court limits demolition for too‑high boundary walls, rejects distance‑tolerance claims

The Court of Cassazione clarified that a breach of the maximum permitted height of a boundary wall does not automatically require its demolition. In the case examined, the Court overturned a lower‑court order to partially tear down a fence and held that the neighbour’s remedy is limited to monetary compensation when only the height limit is exceeded and the legal setback distances are respected.

In a separate ruling, the Court rejected the argument that a 2% construction tolerance could be used to bypass statutory distance requirements between buildings. It confirmed that, when two properties share a wall, the legal setback must be measured from the face of that wall, not its median line, and that tolerances apply only to project specifications, not to statutory setbacks. The appeal court’s order to retract balcony extensions by 20 cm was upheld.