If a homeowner sues a developer because their bedroom is too noisy due to its proximity to the elevator shaft, would that be effective?

Suffering from noise

If an ordinary person wants to sue a developer

Is it actually useful?

Today, we'll use a real-life example to illustrate this.

A lawyer who handled a case involving elevator noise in a residential building offered some valuable experience from a legal perspective for similar cases:

The case is as follows: the homeowner bought an apartment where the bedroom was next to the elevator machine room, causing sleepless nights due to noise. So, they hired a professional noise testing company to conduct an inspection and then sued the developer with the report. You might think this is a simple case-with the inspection report, just compare it to national standards; if it's higher, they get compensation; if it's lower, the case is dismissed-simple and straightforward. But it's not that simple.

There are two questions: First, how does the testing company conduct the tests? Second, which national standard are the results compared to? There are no clear answers to either of these questions.

1. How do acoustic testing companies conduct tests?

Elevator noise is classified as non-steady-state noise. How is non-steady-state noise measured? Is it measured during operation, or is it measured as an average of the noise levels during operation and when not in operation? As for the relevant regulations, let's see what they say:

"Non-steady-state noise is measured as the equivalent sound level (Leq) over the entire normal operating time (or a representative period)." - Environmental Noise Quality Standard

"If the sound source being measured is non-steady-state noise, the equivalent sound level of the sound source during a representative period should be measured. If necessary, the equivalent sound level of the sound source during its entire normal operating period should also be measured." - Emission Standard for Environmental Noise in Social Life

"If the noise source being measured is non-steady-state noise, the equivalent sound level of the noise source during a representative period should be measured. If necessary, the equivalent sound level of the noise source during its entire normal operating period should also be measured." - Emission Standard for Industrial Enterprises at Boundary

During the litigation, this court consulted with staff of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (phone number 010-849××××9) regarding relevant issues of the national standard and received the following reply: 1. The 30-decibel noise limit refers to an average value, including the time during elevator operation, and the highest noise level generated during elevator operation cannot exceed 10 decibels; 2. This average value should take into account the entire nighttime situation. Unless both parties agree, the noise level of the house should be determined based on the average value of the test throughout the night, and not solely on the value during elevator operation. - Wuxi High-tech Industrial Development Zone People's Court, Jiangsu Province (2015) Xinminchuzi No. 00010

So, after reading the above, do you have your answer? Should we measure the noise during runtime, or the average noise between runtime and non-runtime? It's unclear.

If no test can clarify the issue, the report from the testing company you paid for may be ignored by the court. In this case, according to the party involved, the testing fees were considerable, but it was essentially a waste of money.

Therefore, when conducting noise testing, it is essential to clarify beforehand whether the company possesses professional data, has a thorough understanding of national noise standards, and can simultaneously test mid-to-high frequency and low-frequency noise. This ensures they can provide assistance from their professional perspective during the testing process, preventing you from wasting money.

2. Secondly, what standards should the results be compared with?

Even if the developer or property management accepts your test results, which national standard should these results be compared to? There are multiple national standards for bedroom noise: *Residential Building Design Code* (GB 50096-2011), *Sound Insulation Design Code for Civil Buildings* (GB50118-2010), *Emission Standard for Environmental Noise in Social Life* (GB22337-2008), *Environmental Quality Standard for Noise* (GB3096-2008), and *Emission Standard for Environmental Noise at the Boundary of Industrial Enterprises* (GB12348-2008). I have summarized them briefly below (I will not go into the specific classifications of some cases):

Looking at the data in the table, some are high and some are low. Developers want it to be as high as possible, while residents want it to be as low as possible. The most resident-friendly standard is probably the "Social Life Environmental Noise Emission Standard," which sets the daytime standard at 40 dB and the nighttime standard at 30 dB for Class A rooms (such as bedrooms).

But the fatal thing is:

① Article 1 of the "Emission Standard for Environmental Noise in Social Life" clearly states that "This standard applies to the management, evaluation and control of equipment and facilities that emit noise into the environment used in commercial cultural and entertainment venues and commercial operations." Residential buildings obviously do not belong to commercial cultural and entertainment venues, nor do they conduct commercial operations.

② The former Ministry of Environmental Protection's document Huanhan [2011] No. 88 clearly states that "The 'Emission Standard for Environmental Noise at the Boundary of Industrial Enterprises' (GB 12348-2008) and the 'Emission Standard for Environmental Noise in Social Life' (GB 22337-2008) are both national environmental noise emission standards formulated and implemented in accordance with the 'Noise Law.' Neither of these standards applies to the evaluation of noise generated by equipment (such as elevators, water pumps, transformers, etc.) installed in residential buildings to provide services for the daily lives of residents. The 'Noise Law' also does not specify applicable environmental standards for this type of noise."

Therefore, some courts, taking into account the above two factors, do not use the "Social Life Environmental Noise Emission Standard" as the basis for their judgments, and residents may therefore fail to protect their rights.

In summary, if ordinary homeowners wish to protect their rights regarding noise pollution, they must clarify three points: 1. Clarify the measurement method; 2. Clarify the relevant national standards; 3. Hire a professional acoustic testing company.

about Us

Hangzhou Jingsheng Technology Co., Ltd., as the Zhejiang office of "Guangzhou Sound Doctor," offers acoustic technology consulting, noise measurement, and noise and sound environment solutions from Sound Doctor. Considering that some acoustic solutions require actual data, we can provide on-site measurement and setup services as long as the distance is suitable (near Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai).

Case source: Zhihu. Please contact us to delete if there is any infringement.