Scandals between neighbors that arise on the basis of everyday situations like repairs or a noisy party are quite everyday and common for many people. You can understand both sides of the conflict - those who are noisy and those who just want to relax in silence after a hard working day, or even a week. When making repairs, not everyone thinks about when it is possible to drill holes in walls, hammer nails or cut tiles. As a result, the screeching and chirping of screwdrivers, jigsaws and rotary hammers pleases the unfortunate residents of apartment buildings almost around the clock seven days a week.
Not a terrible horror
We all know that there are certain standards and laws governing the issue of noise in high-rise buildings, where many people live. But in reality, few adhere to the rules, and many do some types of work when they have time for this, and not when you can drill. Most of the legislative norms that are used in our state were drafted back in Soviet or perestroika times, but then people lived in a completely different mode compared to their contemporaries.
They left for work no later than eight hours, and returned home at five or six in the afternoon. They had plenty of time to solve household problems, so few people cared about when to drill. Now, many have to return home at eight or nine in the evening and begin repair work late in the evening.
It’s one thing if this is a one-time action, and making noise (or listening to someone else’s repair) late at night or on a weekend will happen once, but it’s quite another when it has already entered the system. There are unique people who have been repairing their apartment for many years, although according to the rules all work must be completed in a maximum of four months. Not only the households of the negligent handyman of all trades, but also innocent neighbors suffer from this.
And if necessary?
But we are all human, and the arrangement of our own housing is often not so much a whim or whim of its owner as a necessary necessity. Before you begin to do any repair work, you need to find out how many can be drilled in the apartment. This will help to avoid unnecessary conflicts with neighbors, who by law have the right not only to quarrel and curse, but also to facilitate proceedings with law enforcement officers.
Therefore, even before the start of noisy activities, it is worth securing the support of people living nearby. It is unlikely that someone will be very glad that they will have to experience these exciting moments with you, but it’s worth warning the neighbors if only because many may have their own reasons for demanding silence (quiet time for a child, a sick relative, etc.). )
In any case, you need to know that you can knock and drill on weekdays! And you do not have to ask permission from the residents of the whole house for this. To warn them or to adjust to the time of repair for the sleep of a newborn from an apartment a floor above is rather a rule of good taste, courtesy on your part, but not a necessity. However, the repair will end sooner or later, and the neighbors will remain, and you better live peacefully with them.
The letter of the law
So, there is a rule that noise is allowed in an apartment only in the period from 7 am to 11 pm. This is about noise in general. Repair or construction work should begin only two hours later (not earlier than 9 a.m.) and finish it in the evening, but not at night (maximum 20 hours). This is a national regulation that may be subject to some adjustments.Local authorities have the right, at their discretion, to indicate how many can be drilled and narrow down this temporary corridor. They can also set a quiet hour at lunchtime and regulate the procedure for noisy work on weekends and holidays.
Note that if a fire alarm goes off at a neighbor’s apartment at three o’clock in the morning or a dog bothers thieves barks, complaints will be unauthorized, because such noise is made in order to ensure safety and counter crime.
Regional subtleties
As we have already said, some regions and cities have their own rules regarding when it is possible to drill, knock and generally make noise in residential premises. So, in the capital, these issues are regulated by law No. 42. Several years ago, officials supplemented it by agreeing some points with Muscovites. The updated provision entered into force in 2016 and takes into account the fact that there are many new buildings in the city in which repair and construction work is the norm. Therefore, according to this decree, it is possible to drill on Saturday and on weekdays from 9 to 19 hours, silence time is also provided (from 13-00 to 15-00). Repair on Sunday and holidays (New Year or May holidays, March 8, etc.) is a taboo. All work must be done from Monday to Saturday. Violators of the law face fines and administrative liability.
In St. Petersburg, things are even tougher, you can not make noise there even on Saturday almost before lunch. The maximum penalty is provided for those citizens who prevented others from resting in the morning (until 12-00).
Daily routine
To summarize the information presented, we clarify once again how many can be drilled on weekdays: from Monday to Friday - from 9-00 to 19-00. In the daytime from 13-00 to 15-00 hours, it is also impossible to make noise. The work should be planned in such a way that in a quiet hour you do not have to turn on the drill or perforator.
These recommendations apply not only to noisy repair and construction works, but also to such specific activities as installation of water supply and electrical systems. And some types of equipment that, when turned on, exceed the permissible level of noise and vibration, are generally forbidden to use.
Weekends and holidays
Now let's talk about whether it is possible to drill on the weekend. Here the law clearly stands on the side of avid lovers of silence. Sunday and holidays are time for a relaxing holiday, but not for buzzing with a drill. On Saturday, as we already said, there is the opportunity to work with the help of special tools, but you should not start making noise in the early morning, just as you should not test the patience of your neighbors, making gates or holes for the dowels after seven in the evening.
In addition, for residents of new buildings, which were commissioned a year (maximum two years) ago, there are minor concessions in the work schedule. Apartment owners are allowed to carry out construction and repair work until a later time, and they can also be drilled on weekends (if the right is not limited by the internal rules of a particular HOA or housing cooperative).
Noise and strife
First you need to figure out what noise is all about? For some, this may be the crying of a child or the stamping of a neighbor’s feet from above, while others will be heard only by the sound of a puncher. So, they can interfere with other residents:
- repair, construction work, skidding / removal of furniture and other bulky items, building materials;
- music, a loud TV, receiver and other speakers, musical instruments, karaoke singing;
- animal sounds (barking, meowing, etc.);
- signaling.
Speaking about the ban on construction work, in connection with which there is noise, it is impossible not to say that there are activities that do not disturb the peace of other people. So, you will not bother anyone even in the early morning or at night if you just glue the wallpaper or lay the tiles, lay the laminate or paint the walls.
Repairs can happen to anyone
Sooner or later, any of us will be forced to update or repair our housing. Even the most elementary work is most often accompanied by noise, which may disturb the neighbors. And, if earlier you had to scandal with them, then your repair is a great opportunity for their revenge. Therefore, it is better to initially try to be loyal to those who are making noise in their apartment now or have done it before.
Modern housing is built in such a way that there can be no talk of secrecy and solitude in principle. Audibility in standard panel buildings is very good. What is happening in one apartment can be found out if not the entire riser, then at least two or three apartments a floor above and below. To avoid unnecessary conflicts, it is better to warn neighbors in advance that you are planning to carry out noisy work. Typically, this often mitigates future embarrassment.
but on the other hand
But what if you have to suffer from the constant noise that comes from other apartments? The situation where neighbors do not think about whether it is possible to drill on weekends and at night is common. Annoying and annoying sounds can be very annoying, and sometimes even make life unbearable.
The injured party should remind the distraught neighbor about the rules and the set time for the construction work and ask him not to abuse your patience. Usually, the issue can be resolved peacefully without resorting to emergency measures, but what if we can't figure it out in a good way?
How to influence the neighbors?
Surely everyone had to come across a person who believed that he needed and could be drilled on weekends, holidays, in the early morning and late evening. Eternal alien repair, the suspicion that in the apartment where this Stakhanovite lived, not a single wall remained, and a constant feeling of powerlessness forced to go to extreme measures.
If the neighboring repairs dragged on for longer than the prescribed four months, and the constant noise makes you forget about a good rest, you can safely contact the law enforcement agencies. First of all, the police, whose employees go to the call. The district police officer is obliged to draw up an administrative protocol and to examine the fact of noise. By connecting other neighbors to the case, you will get more chances for a favorable outcome.
You can also complain to the housing inspectorate. This service will check to see if the annoying neighbor was remodeling the apartment, whether such innovations were made legally.
Crime and Punishment
If the violation of public law is proved, the negligent builder faces a fine. The standard amount ranges from 1-2 thousand rubles, but sometimes the rate rises to 3 thousand. Also, punishment can threaten those neighbors who arbitrarily seized public places (vestibule, landing, pantry or dryer). Self-punishment of an annoying neighbor is not the best way out of the situation. In response, he may file an application for threats to his life and health.