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Apartment dwellers have to be a little quieter
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Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 3:40 pm    Post subject: Apartment dwellers have to be a little quieter Reply with quote

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Apartment dwellers have to be a little quieter

[img]http://pds.joinsmsn.com/jmnet/koreajoongangdaily/_data/photo/2013/06/13220406.jpg[/img]


The government has announced stricter noise level standards for neighbors in apartments.

As a result, men might have to tiptoe around their apartments after 10 p.m. to avoid angry complaints and demands for compensation from the apartment downstairs.

Complaints about noise coming through the ceiling in apartment buildings have risen steadily in recent years, especially about noisy children.

The problem has gotten so bad that in May an elderly man in Incheon got angry over noisy neighbors and lit their apartment on fire, killing a visiting daughter and her boyfriend. During the Lunar New Year holiday this year, a 45-year-old man killed two brothers visiting their parents after an argument over noise in a Seoul apartment building.

Yesterday the Ministry of Environment announced stricter standards that went into effect the same day. The government will recognize a case of disturbance caused by inter-floor noise during the daytime if the decibel level of the sound coming through a ceiling exceeds 40 for a length of time. The previous standard was 55 decibels.

From 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the decibel standard is lowered to 35, down 10 decibels from the previous threshold.

For sudden, isolated noises, the maximum allowed level is 55 decibels during the day and 50 at night.

�The noise-dispute settlement committee [under the Environment Ministry] has received 398 compensation requests over inter-floor noise since 2002,� said Bang Eui-seok, director of the committee at the Environment Ministry. �But with the previous standards, not a single application has met the qualification, prompting the government to revise the standards.�

The new standards are expected to dramatically increase the number of inter-noise cases recognized by the government and compensation demands. But some experts say the government has gone too far and may be prompting all-out wars in apartment buildings.

According to the ministry�s experiment, the sound of hammering a nail into a wall from the apartment below is 59-60 decibels, which exceeds the new standards for both day and nighttime. The sound of a male walking inside an apartment for a minute in his stockinged feet was 35.2 decibels, above the limit for 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The ministry�s tests were conducted in apartments built after 2005 with floor thicknesses of 21 centimeters (8.26 inches) or more.

�Neighborhood disputes over noise are likely to surge because lowering the standards by up to 15 decibels is a very big change,� said Kim Heong-sik, a professor of architecture at Honam University.


They mention buildings built after a certain time... but I'm curious as to the building standard of years previous - some places have a pretty bad rep for stuff like this.
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Ginormousaurus



Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think this is a great move on the govt.'s part. There's few things more frustrating than loud neighbours. The topic is Dave's staple.
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Fox



Joined: 04 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, but if a man's footsteps are enough to violate the standards at night, then what am I supposed to do when my children wake up crying at a much louder volume? Stuff a sock in their mouths? If there is malice, intention, or even indifference behind a noise violation that's one thing, but sometimes disturbing one's neighbors is unfortunately unavoidable. My apartment is also passingly old.
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is this going to include domestic abuse, or will that remain a private matter?
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chickenpie



Joined: 24 Dec 2008

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fox wrote:
Yes, but if a man's footsteps are enough to violate the standards at night, then what am I supposed to do when my children wake up crying at a much louder volume? Stuff a sock in their mouths? If there is malice, intention, or even indifference behind a noise violation that's one thing, but sometimes disturbing one's neighbors is unfortunately unavoidable. My apartment is also passingly old.


The noise comes from the vibrations of walking, a 80kg man walking will cause more vibration and a screaming kid. I wouldn't worry unless you start bouncing them off the floor to shut them up.
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waynehead



Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Location: Jongno

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Man up and buy earplugs and a crazy loud alarm clock like the rest of us.

J/k, this seems like a good policy.
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War Eagle



Joined: 15 Feb 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just another law that is not only very difficult to enforce (who owns a sound meter?), but won't be enforced.
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Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think it depends on the man (person). I lived with my in-laws for a while, and out of our family, my FIL was by far the loudest walker. I outweigh him by around 40+kgs, but he sure loved to walk on his heels. Confused
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3DR



Joined: 24 May 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very good.

There is some idiot below me who apparently teaches opera classes and I have to listen to a man and woman bellowing on the weekdays from 5-8 pm and 10-1 on Saturdays (forget sleeping in if I want to)
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Weigookin74



Joined: 26 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hope if they pass this law they also introduce better soundproofing in the buildings. Otherwise, the landlord should be fined and required to install it in the ceilings between floors. This will really block much of the noise. Basic things like walking and watching tv should not affect things too bad if there is proper soundproofing. Passing this law with no soundproofing being required or retrofitted into buildings will do no good.
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MoneyMike



Joined: 03 Dec 2008

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think it's great that the government is making this more of an issue, but this law is bull. How could it possibly be enforced?

"Hey officer, I just heard my neighbor make a sound, it was about 60 decibels. I want compensation."

It's completely unprovable and unenforceable. Who thinks this nonsense up??

Although it does create a business opportunity! Importing and selling a sound measuring device that will record times and sound levels it detects. That would pay for itself pretty quickly if they were to actually enforce compensation! Rolling Eyes

And yeah, I second that about people who walk loudly. The guy downstairs from me sounds like he's goose-stepping when he walks around. It's almost like he's purposely driving his feet into the floor to make as much noise as possible.
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Mr. BlackCat



Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Captain Corea wrote:
I think it depends on the man (person). I lived with my in-laws for a while, and out of our family, my FIL was by far the loudest walker. I outweigh him by around 40+kgs, but he sure loved to walk on his heels. Confused


I was going to say the same thing. Koreans tend to walk on their heels, making it much louder than it has to be. Some men everywhere believe being as loud as possible amps up the masculinity and make no effort to be conscious of others (quite the opposite).

I wonder how they got those readings for the walking. Wouldn't it depend on the type of floors and building, not to mention how you walk? I walk stealth in my hallway, especially at night, but most of my neighbours go out of their way to stomp their way down (after slamming their doors as loudly as possible).
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

War Eagle wrote:
Just another law that is not only very difficult to enforce (who owns a sound meter?), but won't be enforced.


Exactly. If Korea enforced its laws it would be a totally different country.
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cj1976



Joined: 26 Oct 2005

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So no more boozy Hendrix covers on my electric guitar at 1am? Fascists!
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

35 db? That's an awfully low number...

I'm all for stricter enforcement, but going from 55-35 db is like basically taking a street and lowering the speed limit from 55-35 mph. You don't fight speeding drivers with lower speed limits, you fight it with better traffic enforcement. Same with sound.
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