Government to Strengthen Standards for Noise Between Floors in Apartment Complexes... Effectiveness?

Standards for Noise Between Floors in Apartment Buildings Reduced by 4 Decibels Day and Night
60-70% of Noise Between Floors Due to 'Poor Construction'
"Shifting the Cause of Noise Between Floors onto Consumers"

A press conference was held in the morning of last June at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to announce the current status of inter-floor noise disputes and countermeasures.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] The government has strengthened the standards for noise between floors in apartment complexes and other multi-family housing. While the scope of legally recognized noise damage is expected to expand, there are criticisms that the effectiveness is limited. Since 60-70% of inter-floor noise is caused by poor construction by builders, the focus has shifted solely to individuals' lifestyle habits as noise standards are tightened. There are also concerns that disputes among residents, such as lawsuits, will increase due to the stricter standards.

The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 23rd that they have prepared a revision of the "Regulations on the Scope and Standards of Inter-floor Noise in Multi-family Housing," which lowers the criteria for judging inter-floor noise.

The revision lowers the "1-minute equivalent noise level" standard for direct impact noise to 39 decibels (dB) during the day (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and 34 dB at night (10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day), down 4 dB from the current standards (43 dB during the day, 38 dB at night). This is a lower standard than the noise level in a quiet house during the day (40 dB). Direct impact noise refers to noise generated through actual impacts on floors and walls, such as footsteps or dragging chairs, and the 1-minute equivalent noise level means the average noise measured over one minute.

The standards are used when disputes arise between neighbors to request noise cessation through the apartment management office or to decide on damage compensation through dispute mediation committees under the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and are expected to be implemented as early as this year.

If noise exceeding the standard is confirmed and continues to occur repeatedly, victims can receive compensation through mediation by the Central Environmental Dispute Mediation Committee under the Ministry of Environment or the Multi-family Housing Management Dispute Mediation Committee under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The government expects that the strengthened inter-floor noise standards will expand the scope in which noise damage can be recognized during dispute resolution processes such as mediation by dispute committees.

The "exceptions" applied to old multi-family housing will also be reduced. The current regulation adds 5 dB to the noise standard for multi-family housing approved before June 2005. The revision maintains the 5 dB addition until 2024 and reduces it to 2 dB thereafter.

The government has strengthened the standards for noise between floors in apartments and other multi-family housing.

Although the government is actively working to resolve inter-floor noise conflicts between neighbors, there are criticisms that this revision lacks effectiveness. Since 60-70% of inter-floor noise causes stem from poor construction by builders, focusing on noise shifts attention only to individuals' lifestyle habits.

Previously, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) also pointed out that inter-floor noise issues should not be approached as individual problems. At a press conference in June titled "Current Status and Countermeasures of Inter-floor Noise Disputes," CCEJ emphasized, "So far, solutions to inter-floor noise have been discussed at the level of neighbor disputes or approached as individual problems, but such approaches cannot solve the fundamental issues," and stressed, "Government policies should be improved to introduce and expand effective construction methods for noise reduction and strengthen builders' responsibilities."

Experts also noted that while this revision may help secure objective data during dispute procedures, it could also unfairly blame consumers for all causes of inter-floor noise. Cha Sang-gon, director of the Housing Culture Improvement Research Institute, said, "Previously, before noise measurement, the noise provider had to be informed, and the noise standards were high, making it difficult to alleviate victims' discomfort. The strengthened noise standards are expected to help victims collect objective data."

However, he pointed out that solving noise problems solely by strengthening noise standards is insufficient. Director Cha explained, "When the government presented the scope and standards for inter-floor noise in 2014, the intention was for people to be more cautious living in multi-family housing, but since then, inter-floor noise disputes have actually surged," adding, "This is because many people have filed lawsuits based on noise standards without improving their lifestyle habits."

He continued, "The inter-floor noise problem was viewed as a consumer issue rather than a builder's issue. The idea was 'the building was well constructed, but the consumer's lifestyle is the problem,'" and warned, "Related lawsuits will become more frequent with the strengthened standards."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.