Short answer. When a title grants the dominant estate the right to direct views, balconies, or belvederes overlooking an adjoining property, Article 673 of the Civil Code prohibits the servient owner from building within three meters of the boundary. The distance is measured in the same way as for the standard window-distance rules.
What the law says
Whenever by any title a right has been acquired to have direct views, balconies or belvederes overlooking an adjoining property, the owner of the servient estate cannot build thereon at less than a distance of three meters to be measured in the manner provided in article 671. Any stipulation permitting distances less than those prescribed in article 670 is void.
Civil Code, Article 673 — Servient Owner's Building Setback. Read the full provision →
The three-meter setback when a title exists
Article 673 of the Civil Code sets a specific rule for situations where a title already confers a right to direct views: "Whenever by any title a right has been acquired to have direct views, balconies or belvederes overlooking an adjoining property, the owner of the servient estate cannot build thereon at less than a distance of three meters to be measured in the manner provided in article 671." The baseline rule for windows in Article 670 requires only two meters for direct views. Article 673 increases this to three meters when the dominant estate holds a title-based right. The owner of the burdened property must stay at least three meters from the boundary when constructing on the affected side.
How the three meters is measured
The distance is measured following the method in Article 671, which applies the same approach used for standard window-distance calculations. For direct views, the measurement runs from the outer face of the wall in which the opening is located — or from the outer edge of any projection if the opening does project outward. The three-meter requirement under Article 673 therefore means the servient owner must keep the outer face of any new construction at least three meters away from the relevant point on the dominant estate's wall or balcony, depending on the geometry of the opening.
Agreements to reduce the distance are void
Article 673 adds a further rule: "Any stipulation permitting distances less than those prescribed in article 670 is void." Article 670 sets the minimum distances — two meters for direct views, sixty centimeters for oblique views — as the floor below which parties cannot agree to go. This means a private agreement between neighbors to allow windows or openings closer than those minimums has no legal effect. The distances established in Article 670, and the three-meter rule in Article 673 for title-based view rights, are statutory floors that contractual arrangements cannot undercut.
What this means in practice
If your property has a title, deed, or other instrument that establishes a right to direct views over the neighboring lot, that title creates an obligation on the neighbor's side of the boundary. Any construction the neighbor undertakes within three meters of that boundary — measured from the relevant point on your wall — would violate Article 673. A structure already built closer than three meters before the title was acquired does not automatically come down, but any new construction would need to respect the statutory setback. The holder of the dominant estate can seek enforcement of this limitation if the servient owner attempts to build within the prohibited zone.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Sps. Tedy Garcia and Pilar Garcia vs. Loreta T. Santos, Winston Santos and Conchita, G.R. No. 228334, June 17, 2019 — read the decision on LawPhil →