The inviolability of the home presupposes a kind of protective shelter for a person from external problems, people and contacts. But it happens that the feeling of security and peace leaves us because of the other residents of the house.
Most people think that making loud noises is only prohibited during certain hours. But that's not true. Even during the permissible period, the source of noise will become illegal if the maximum sound intensity standards are exceeded or such sounds violate morality, for example, swearing.
The article outlines typical situations when a conflict between neighbors due to noise can lead to unpleasant consequences. What can be done, where to complain and how to punish those who do not respect those living in the neighborhood?
When it's too loud during the day
During the daytime, any noise is officially permitted. If your neighbor has a drill working downstairs, and children are stomping upstairs, you won’t do anything and won’t hold anyone accountable. The Law “On the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare of the Population” does not prohibit residents of an apartment building from making noise during the day from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Let us immediately note that in a number of regions local authorities issue their own standards regarding the permitted time to disturb the peace of others.
And such regulations have greater force in relation to federal law. See also the articles: Law on silence in the Samara region and Law on silence in St. Petersburg. So in controversial issues you should refer to regional legislation.
If noise keeps you awake at night
Who do you call when your neighbors are noisy at night? After 11 pm, night noise is punishable in accordance with administrative legislation:
- fine up to 2000 rubles;
- in case of failure to comply with the decision on a fine - arrest for up to 15 days.
When neighbors listen to music too loudly, it is enough to call the local police officer or simply call “02”, “112”. The duty officer will redirect your call to the station served by a specific police officer.
After drawing up the protocol, the silence breakers usually stop their activity. In this case, it is desirable, but not necessary, to try to “peacefully” calm down the offenders before calling the police. Excessive noise levels for residential buildings are 30 dBA and above. Such a sound source is considered to be contrary to community standards and will be grounds for liability.
If your peace is disturbed by noisy neighbors living in a rented apartment, report such behavior to the owner of the premises. This often helps.
You need to be extremely careful when trying to negotiate neighborly silence. The violator does not always give an adequate response. This can develop into a conflict and the victim may accidentally become the culprit (sometimes even of a more serious offense).
This problem is mentioned in the video from 32 seconds.
Special cases
When such a situation arises, many are faced with nuances that make it difficult to understand how to proceed.
Repair
Unsplash
Renovation work is quite common in new homes. But if their duration exceeds the permitted time range, we advise you to immediately call the police. Thus, in the capital region it is prohibited to carry out repairs from 19:00 to 9:00, while it is mandatory to observe a two-hour break from 13:00 to 15:00.
Often the time frame is set by the residents of the house themselves, so it is worth asking the management company and involving them in the proceedings too.
Working household appliances at night
There are also cases when residents of neighboring apartments decide to carry out night cleaning. In this case, law enforcement will not help you, so try to solve the problem through dialogue.
Suddenly silent intruders
Take care in advance of evidence of disturbances at night. There are often cases when, even before the police arrive, neighbors fall silent and silence falls in the house.
Try recording the violent behavior of residents of nearby apartments using a smartphone voice recorder or video. Or involve other people as witnesses. On the Internet you can also find programs that measure the volume level and display it in decibels.
This way you can present evidence to law enforcement officers without involving special services.
The police and the local police officer don't come
In this case, we advise you to write a complaint to a higher authority. For example, to the prosecutor's office. Then your request will be responded to much faster.
What kind of noise is unacceptable after 11 p.m.
It is clear that a loud conversation or a child’s coughing or crying are not grounds for initiating administrative proceedings. Although there are statements to the police of this nature. Neighbors are not allowed to:
- sing;
- listen to music or play instruments;
- turn on the TV with maximum volume;
- make repairs (drilling, knocking, dragging bulky objects, exploding firecrackers);
- Also unacceptable is a loud conflict of a personal nature, shouting, swearing.
Such actions are unacceptable both in your apartment and in the courtyard of an apartment building. For example, exploding firecrackers, training a dog to give a voice, turning on a car alarm.
Examples of solving a question
Situation 1
Marina works as a primary school teacher at school, and therefore it is very important for her to get a good night's sleep. She lives on the second floor of an apartment building. On the third floor in the same house there lives a family of two people who sort things out in a loud voice around the clock. Once, during a scandal that took place at night, Marina called the police, who arrived within 20 minutes. Approaching the door of the apartment, the police heard noise and screams, which was evidence of an administrative offense. Despite the fact that the neighbors did not open the door, the police drew up a report, taking explanations from Marina. The next day, the neighbors were called to the local police officer, who issued them a fine for an administrative violation. Scandals began to recur much less frequently.
Expertise in determining volume level
Citizens who complain about loud neighbors rarely use the services of an expert who will determine whether or not permissible noise standards are exceeded. To a certain extent, employees must determine whether the fact in the statement is confirmed or not. This means they need to organize a special study.
Local police commissioners almost never carry out procedural checks on noisy statements so thoroughly. Therefore, dissatisfied neighbors can help him - contact the examination bureau or Rospotrebnadzor on their own to collect this data.
What evidence can be collected before the police arrive?
If you decide to deal with noisy neighbors, then there is a number of evidence that can be attached to the application. What would be a good reason to take the application seriously:
- Record noisy sounds on a voice recorder. At the same time, be in the entrance at this time so that it is clear how much the music is disturbing all the residents;
- peace negotiations. In the beginning, it is better to try to settle the dispute with troublesome people by talking. Such a conversation can also be recorded: this will confirm that you tried to calm down the neighbors;
- To confirm repetition, continue to record violations for several days. Especially if the neighbor deliberately makes noise for a long time. For example, out of spite in an acute conflict;
- photos. When neighbors from above cause inconvenience, sometimes there are traces of their hectic pastime: crumbling plaster, cracks in the ceiling. These effects should be photographed;
- CCTV Cameras. If there are constant violations of public order in public places (on the landing, elevator, porch), you can try to resolve the issue with the management company about installing CCTV cameras.
How to deal with upstairs neighbors if they constantly flood
Are your upstairs neighbors constantly flooding you and complaining seems useless? Contact a lawyer and file a lawsuit, but what to do when this is not possible?
Without legal assistance, of course, it is difficult, but you can try. Under the place where water drips from the ceiling, fill your own floor! At first glance, this looks stupid, because the water will get to the lower neighbors. But when they come to you to find out what’s wrong, complain to them about the ones above, show them the stains on the ceiling. You won't be the only one complaining about uploaders.
How to write a statement to the police
To bring to justice those responsible for disturbing your peaceful sleep, you can use a sample application for noisy neighbors to the district police officer:
To the head of the police department of the _______________ district of the city _______________, residents of house No. ________, entrance No. ____________, st. ____________,
Full name of residents, apartment numbers.
STATEMENT
We ask you to take responsible measures against the tenant(s) living in the apartment. No.____ apartment building No._______, entrance No._____, st.______, ________. For a long time (indicate how long) the specified tenant disturbs the peace of citizens at night: he deliberately carries out repair work (explodes firecrackers, listens to music, that is, indicate the fact, exactly how the peace was disturbed), be sure to reflect the time. The tenant does not respond to repeated attempts to convince him to stop his actions, continuing to violate the right to rest of all residents of the entrance (house). On criminal liability for knowingly false denunciation under Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation warned (signatures of all applicants).
Signatures of all residents ____________ ____________ Date Attachment: photos, video material on electronic media, printouts of conversation fragments.
When there is loud music from a cafe outside the windows
Karaoke and discos, loud music at night in an open-air establishment. This problem is quite common in resort towns. In this case:
- The algorithm of actions is the same (by calling a police officer).
- But the liability of a legal entity is much higher in terms of the fine (up to 7,000 rubles).
- In addition, when filing a complaint with the prosecutor's office, the level of noise generated by the restaurant will be checked. If it significantly exceeds the permissible value (over 45 dBA), the establishment may be closed. The reason for this may also be the location of the cafe closer than 100 meters from a residential building.
When neighbors love dogs and cats endlessly
If a neighbor's dog barks at night, the owner must take measures to eliminate disturbances to the general peace. But sometimes there are too many pets, and all residents of the entrance feel the harm from them. And pet owners are unable to cope because of their number.
Such people are compassionate old women who manage to fit up to 50 dogs and (or) cats in their one-room apartment. This not only contributes to unsanitary conditions, since the grandmother simply does not have time to clean up after them, but also creates unbearable tests on the nerves: howling and barking at night can be heard throughout the house. About this situation:
- bring to the attention of the police and prosecutor's office;
- notify the sanitary and epidemiological authorities (Rospotrebnadzor);
- as well as the administration.
Rules for keeping pets are determined by the laws of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Therefore, after an on-site inspection at the address, the form of exposure to the person keeping too many pets will be established. Thus, a certain number of dogs or cats are placed in special kennels. If the owner “collected” stray dogs, it is possible to isolate them from the population by taking them outside the municipality or to shelters.
Stages of the fight
To deal with noisy neighbors you need:
- Contact the culprits of the noise directly. Perhaps a conversation with them will bring a positive result and you will be able to sleep peacefully. If the neighbors are adequate, then they will understand everything and will meet you halfway;
- Application to the district police officer. It is the responsibility of the district police officer to monitor compliance with the “Law on Silence” at night.
District police officers do not like to deal with the settlement of such issues. Therefore, in order to give the complaint more weight, you can draw up a collective statement against the troublemaker. Moreover, if violations occurred more than once.
A law enforcement officer will no longer be able to ignore such a form with numerous signatures. He will be forced to give it a go and personally visit the people who are disturbing everyone at night.
Perhaps a conversation with the local police officer will be enough to establish night silence. In addition, the powers of the district police officer include imposing penalties. And frequent payments of even the minimum 500 rubles can cause significant damage to the average family budget.
If not the moral, then perhaps the material side of the issue will make neighbors think about what they are doing.
- Call the police squad. Everyone understands that you won’t run to the local police officer in the middle of the night and you won’t write a statement. In this case, the police on duty will come to the rescue.
You can call the duty station or dial “02”. In both cases, you are required to accept the call and send a group. Yes, the police do not like such calls and, most likely, will try to persuade you to solve the problem yourself. Insist on the departure of the squad, and at the same time inquire about the rank and surname of the duty officer who accepted the call.
Nobody argues, the police already have enough work, but you also need help. Most often, a couple of such visits and a few fines are enough to calm noisy neighbors.
- Prosecutor's office and court. This is an extreme and undesirable measure. They resort to it when all other options have already been exhausted, but there is no positive result.
An application is submitted to the prosecutor's office, where all claims are registered and available evidence is provided. Then a case is initiated, which is considered in court and a decision is made on it. Usually this is a fine and recommendations to maintain silence. However, persistent violators may receive an eviction order.
The neighbors not only make noise, but also drink on the landing
If drinking alcohol, accompanied by loud fun, showdowns or fights, takes place in the entrance. Then there are grounds for bringing administrative (and sometimes criminal, if weapons or similar objects are used) liability for violating order in a public place. It does not matter whether the violation occurred once or is repeated periodically.
Links to legislative acts
- Federal Law of March 30, 1999 No. 52-FZ “On the sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population”
- SNiP 23-03-2003 “Protection from noise”
Where else can you complain about noisy neighbors?
In some situations, you can complain about neighbors causing inconvenience not only to the district police officer, but also to the territorial division of Rospotrebnadzor. You can do this:
- By sending a paper application to the reception desk of the regulatory authority;
- Contact us through the online reception.
When leaving a request, it is important to fill out all the fields provided to receive feedback.
Department employees can go to the specified address and take measurements of noise pollution, if any occurs. With the results of measurements, the injured party can go to court, which will put an end to the dispute.
This method is effective if the noise is constant.
For example, when a loud refrigerator or air conditioner became a stumbling block between neighbors. If we are talking, for example, about a loud door slamming, it will be impossible to take measurements.
Allocation of a share from the common shared property can be simple if you read our material. You will find detailed information about the procedure for allocating a share from common shared property in this article. How to correctly use an escrow account when paying for the purchase of an apartment and is it worth using it? Find out about it here.
