Libro Segundo · Título II · Capítulo III Párrafo II. Copropiedad en la medianería de inmuebles

There is co-ownership in a wall, ditch or fence that serves as boundary and separation for two contiguous properties; and while there is no evidence or exterior sign demonstrating the contrary, it is presumed:

1°.In the dividing walls of contiguous buildings, up to the common point of elevation;

2°.In the dividing walls of gardens or corrals located in a town or in the countryside; and

3°.In the fences, enclosures and live hedges dividing rural properties.

There is a sign contrary to party-wall co-ownership:

1°.When there are windows or open gaps in the dividing walls of the buildings;

2°.When the whole wall, palisade or hedge is known to be built on the land of one of the properties and not halfway between the two adjoining ones;

3°.When the wall bears the loads of the beams, floors and roof frames of one of the possessions and not of the adjoining one;

4°.When the dividing wall between courtyards, gardens and other estates is built in such a way that the coping falls toward only one of the properties;

5°.When the dividing wall, built of masonry, has stones called pasaderas, which at intervals project from the surface on only one side of the wall and not on the other;

6°.When the wall is a dividing wall between a building of which it forms part and a garden, field, corral or lot without a building;

7°.When one estate is enclosed or protected by palisade, fence, or live hedges and the adjoining ones are not;

8°.When the fence that completely encloses an estate is of a different kind from that which the neighboring estate has on its sides adjoining the first; and

9°.When in wire fences of any kind, the wire is nailed to the posts or live hedges that support it, only on the side of one estate and not on the side of the adjoining estate.

It is generally presumed that in the cases indicated in the preceding article, ownership of the walls, fences, enclosures or hedges belongs exclusively to the owner of the estate or tenement that has those exterior signs in its favor.

Trees growing in the party hedge are deemed common, and each of the owners has the right to request that they be cut down, upon proving that in some way they cause him harm; but if they serve as a boundary marker or form part of a fence, they shall not be cut down or replaced except by common agreement.

Open ditches or irrigation channels between estates are also presumed party, if there is no title or mark proving the contrary.

There is a sign contrary to party ownership when the earth or debris removed from the ditch or channel to open or clean it is found on only one side; in this case ownership of the ditch or channel is presumed to belong exclusively to the owner of the estate in whose favor this exterior sign exists.

The presumption established by the preceding article ceases when the inclination of the land requires throwing the earth on one side only.

The owners of the properties are obliged to take care that the party wall, fence, ditch or hedge does not deteriorate; and if through their own act or that of any of their dependents or animals they deteriorate, they must restore them, paying the damage and losses that have been caused.

The repair and reconstruction of party walls and the maintenance of enclosures, fences, live hedges, ditches or irrigation channels, also held in common, shall be borne proportionally by all owners who hold this party ownership in their favor.

The owner of a building supported by a party wall may, upon demolishing it, renounce or not renounce party-wall co-ownership.

In the first case, all expenses necessary to prevent or repair the damage caused by the demolition shall be borne by him.

In the second, in addition to this obligation, he remains subject to those imposed by Articles 512 and 513.

The owner of an estate contiguous to a dividing wall that is not a party wall may only give it that character, in whole or in part, by contract with the owner thereof.

Any owner may raise the party wall, doing so at his own expense and indemnifying for the losses occasioned by the work, even if temporary.

While the owner of the dividing wall has in his favor a servitude of light or view, the owner of the neighboring estate may acquire the party-wall co-ownership only up to the height of the lower part of the windows or openings that constitute the exterior sign of the servitude.

All conservation works shall likewise be at the expense of the owner of the wall, in the part that he has increased in height or thickness and those that are necessary in the party-wall part, provided that the deterioration results from the greater height or thickness given to the wall.

If the party wall cannot withstand the greater elevation, the owner who wishes to raise it shall have the obligation to rebuild it at his cost, and if it is necessary to give it greater thickness, he shall provide it from his own land.

In the cases indicated by Articles 516, 517 and 519, the wall shall continue to be a party wall up to the height at which it previously was, even where it has been rebuilt at the expense of only one of the party-wall co-owners; and from the point where the greater height began, it is exclusively owned by the one who built it.

The other owners who have not contributed to giving greater height or thickness to the party wall may, however, acquire party-wall rights in the newly raised portion, paying proportionally the value of the work and one-half of the value of the land on which greater thickness has been given.

Each owner of a party wall may use it in proportion to the right he holds in the co-ownership; he may, therefore, build by supporting his construction on the party wall or by inserting beams up to half of its thickness; but without impeding the respective common use of the other party-wall owners.

For a party-wall owner to use this right, he must give prior notice to the other persons interested in the party-wall co-ownership and if any of them objects, the conditions necessary to ensure that the new work does not prejudice the rights of those persons shall be fixed by experts.

No owner may, without the consent of the other, open windows or any opening whatsoever in a party wall.

The owner of a non-party wall, contiguous to another's property, may open therein windows or openings to receive light at such a height that the lower part of the window is at least three meters distant from the floor of the dwelling to which it gives light, in all cases with an iron grille set into the wall and with wire mesh whose meshes are at most three centimeters.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding article, the owner of the estate or property contiguous to the wall in which windows or openings have been made may construct a wall contiguous thereto, or, if party-wall ownership is acquired, rest upon the same party wall, even if in one manner or the other he covers the openings or windows.

Windows for looking out, or balconies or other similar projections over the neighbor's property, extending them beyond the boundary that separates the estates, may not be had.

Nor may side or oblique views over the same property be had, if there is not a distance of six decimeters.

The distance is measured from the line of separation of the two properties.

No windows or balconies overlooking the rooms, patios, or corrals of the neighboring property may be opened, unless there is an intervening distance of three meters.

The distance shall be measured between the vertical plane of the most projecting line of the window or balcony and the vertical plane of the dividing line of the two properties, at the point where such lines are closest together, if they are not parallel.