A tenant in a condominium broke down a wall from his apartment for the purpose of building an exit to the common yard without the consent of the other tenants, but after receiving a building permit for it.
The Land Registry Supervisor held that the opening of the wall was done illegally and the tenant must restore the wall to its prior state. Israeli Law stipulates that any property which has not been defined as an apartment is deemed common areas. According to the common condominium bylaw entailed in the Law, a tenant can not make changes or repairs that damage common areas or endanger, or may endanger, their existence or change, or may change, their value, including opening a door in the exterior wall of the condominium, without the consent of the general meeting of the tenants. Carrying out such an action without consent, constitutes damage to the common areas. Therefore, it is not sufficient to obtain a building permit that regulates the planning aspect of the action, but not its property aspect. Here, although the tenant received a building permit for the exit to the common yard, he did not obtain the consent of the general meeting of the tenants to carry out the change. Thus, the opening of the wall was done illegally and the tenant must restore the wall to its prior state.