Neighbors agreed with a contractor that he would build an addition for them in one operation (one above the other…
Question
Hello.
Neighbors agreed with a contractor that he would build an addition for them in one operation (one above the other, construction equal for each one). The contractor agreed on a price with each one separately, such that each one builds half a ceiling and half a floor. With the resident on the first floor, he agreed on a price of NIS 1,500 per meter for half of the casting of his ceiling and floor, and with the resident on the second floor, he agreed on NIS 2,000 per meter for his share in the construction. Can the resident on the upper floor demand participation in the additional price he paid beyond what the lower resident paid?
Answer
Hello and blessings.
There is room to hear both sides, and they need to come to an agreement.
Source
In any joint construction, each party must share with the other in the floor and ceiling that are common to him and his neighbor. Here there are two possible ways to view it: One possibility is that by each one building half, he has fulfilled his obligation toward the other, and each one, based on the price he received, either gained or lost for himself. Alternatively, although they technically divided the construction agreements, nevertheless each one is still obligated to build everything for the benefit of his neighbor, and since it cost his neighbor more, he must share with him. [Editor’s note: In my humble opinion, one should also take into account that even if they are full partners and each one is building everything for the other, nevertheless, if the discount the contractor gave the lower resident was because of prior ties of friendship or work connections between them, this is like partners where the tax collector waived payment for one of them on his own initiative and said, “I am waiving it for so-and-so,” in which case it belongs to him alone (siman 177, se’if 1).]
