Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This is an interesting question, and I won't pretend to know or be able to give you a complete and final answer. However, from years of experience in high-risk businesses before going into law (perhaps another high-risk business???) I can give you a few pointers:

1. A property owner's property rights are not just on the surface. They extend to the center of the earth and to the outer limits of the sky. Therefore, when a crane swings its load over the owner's property line, extended upward, it is a trespass. Even though no harm is done, the owner has a cause of action (right to sue) for nominal damages (? $1 ?) and could even perhaps get an injunction beforehand if they were really aggressive.

2. $2 million in liability coverage is not very impressive. Maybe that was fine back in 1973, but I would think a responsible crane company nowadays would carry more like $5 to $10 million in liability coverage. However, I am not and was not in the crane business; I was in the short-line railroad business, and practices may differ.

3. Getting an insurance certificate listing you as an "additional named insured" for the duration of this project is a reasonable request, and the crane company's insurer should be able to pop out a certificate of coverage on short notice and little or no cost to anyone. This is a customary practice in the liability insurance business.

I hope this is somewhat helpful, even if not guaranteed to be fully accurate.

No he can�t stop you if you do not need to go over or on to his property. However if the tub where to swing over his property you technically have trespassed over his space, but in a laughable amount that would cause the case to get thrown out of court. However if something happened oh boy that would be another story!

As to the coverage amount well it depends on how much damage he could do. Is your neighbors place a palace? Could the crane company�s dropping of the hot tub cause in excess of 2 million in damages? Doesn�t the operator have an umbrella or excess policy? Check around with other crane companies and see what they carry. It is good that they have been around for 33 years but every one can have a bad day and that�s why you get insurance.

On another note try to talk to your neighbor because you do have to live next to him and work something out. See what his rational concerns are if the limits are a problem then find someone with more insurance. If he is still being a jerk do it immediately so he cannot get a court order preventing you, don�t tell him when you are going to do it and do it over the weekend when the courts are closed. That is just practical advice. Good luck and hope this helps and let me know how it turned out.

Whipple and Belli seem to like to read themselves write (sort of like hear themselves talk). Tell the operator to keep the pick over your property only. If they can't, find another lift company. Be more worried that you and they have any obscure City and County of San Francisco permits you might need, than what the neighbors say. Your neighbor is a fool for wanting to be an additional named insured. If anything it would weaken their third-party claim if the crane company dropped the pick on their house. Do they really want to be on record as thinking they might have liability for the pick? Get a certificate of insurance from the crane company showing they have full liability coverage on the day of the project, a pick plan that includes static and dynamic load calculations for the pick and swing, and tell the neighbor if they don't stop putting their foot in their mouth they're never going to get an invite to any of the hot tub parties.