Guys, is there any rule against doing barbeque on apartment's balcony in Switzerland?
Best,
Hi there,
Sometimes, yes. Check your contract. In an apartment we lived in our contract included a clause stating we were not allowed to barbecue on the balcony.
Kate
This might shed some light on the matter:
http://www.mieterverband.ch/fileadmi..._Hinterhof.pdf
If you're not on the top floor you might want to consider your upstairs neighbours in deciding your choice of fuel. We've lived on the top floor for a while and using charcoal was not a problem. Now we are moving to a 3rd floor apartment, I will probably invest in a gas grill.
Cheers,
Nick
I once had 4 fire engines respond to my (2.nd floor balcony) barbecue after a drunk walking past the building thought the whole place was going up in flames. The guy ran (stumbled) around to the main entrance of the building and started ringing all the door bells while screaming FIRE..! FIRE..! FIRE..! The neighbors all yelled down to him to stop as they all knew it was only my barbecue. Unfortunately the fire department arrive a few minutes later and had to come up to my apartment to see with their own eyes what was going on. Had to be the most embarrassing day in all my years in Switzerland. At least my neighbors were cool about it, they teased me for months afterwards..
Shortly afterwards I bought a gas grill and placed it on the small balcony off the kitchen away from the main street.
This is great news - I've recently moved into my flat here in Basel which has a small balcony. And I've already bought my (charcoal) bbq as Jumbo has a sale on an OK-looking one for 40Fr.
I'm not on the top floor and will probably go upstairs to warn them before I have my first barbecue. It'll also be an excuse for me to introduce myself as a new neighbour anyway - assuming they speak English.
Even if they don`t speak english, invite them for food..... the will be your friends...
Heck, invite me... I`ll be your friend...
I don't have a balcony but there is a terrace area between my block of apartments and another block of apartments that do have balconies.
It is a large area and there are some kids toy etc but I've yet to see someone do a bbq on the terrace area or on their balconies in the opposite building.
What do you all think should it be okay?
I ask this because I came home and my awesome wife had bought me a new gas bbq, but I'm not sure if I will get in trouble or not. I can't believe she carried this thing all the way from the shops
Should link above no longer reach the obviously intended doc "Balkon, Hinterhof und Grillieren - die Rechte der
Mieterinnen und Mieter", try this PDF
I'd have thought gas would not be a problem.
Actually I got a Bodum picnic BBQ (uses briquettes) as a gift from Mrs nickatbasel - which I lit on balcony after checking the wind direction and whether or not neighbours were sitting outside. Wasn't too bad in the end though I would not do it everyday.
Cheers,
Nick
We've had 4 or 5 bbqs since last year with no problems
This is good to know that gas BBQs are OK on a balcony. I will be importing a 3 ring burner from UK with all our stuff. I think I can just change the regulator from UK to Swiss.
Anyone else done this?
I have. I brought one over from Luxembourg and changed the regulator. No problems at all.
Well, I live on the top floor, have had gas, charcoal, and wood fired grills for the past 21 years, never had a problem (though sometimes the smoke in the apartment gets a bit thick!)
Tom
Not an easy one this. Of course we all want to be tolerant neighbours- and yet. We have a top floor flat in the UK, and when it is hot and we want to sleep with windows open and a thorough draught - the bbq on balcony below can be a total pain- especially if it is a regular event. Warning neighbours and asking if they don't mind- is good form I think.