A house is a place where you want to relax and unwind after a hard day's work. However, often extraneous sounds do not allow this to be fully done. Any events in the neighbors are constantly awakening during sleep or simply do not allow to concentrate and distract.
This is especially true for urban residents. They are annoyed by extraneous sounds from the street (the noise of passing cars or trams), dogs barking. In addition, sometimes neighbors behind the wall or on the upper floors quite noticeably interfere. In modern buildings, noise insulation leaves much to be desired, so you can clearly hear how some residents of the house are undergoing repairs, others have a scandal, and others have a moody little child.
What laws protect citizens from high-profile neighbors? What decibel noise rate in an apartment is permissible without harm to health? Besides the fact that it is simply unpleasant, being in an insufficiently quiet room is harmful to the human body. At high decibels, hearing is affected, problems with the cardiovascular and nervous systems arise, and some chronic diseases are exacerbated.
General information
Noise is random fluctuations of various nature. The sound volume is a quantity that depends on its intensity (pressure) and frequency. The volume in decibels (dB) is measured. The maximum allowable noise level is considered to be a norm increase of 20 dB. So, if according to the legislation the sanitary norm is 40 decibels, then the permissible level should not be higher than 60 dB. At night, the sanitary norm is much smaller and is only 25 decibels.
Why are the daily noise standards in an apartment different by law? This is due to the fact that at night, people have more sensitive hearing, so all too loud sounds interfere with restful sleep.
Stable non-compliance with noise levels leads to disruption of the normal functioning of the human body. The nervous system suffers from this, which is fraught with, at a minimum, headaches and sleep disturbance.
When to contact a specialist
Everyone understands that a completely quiet life in a multi-storey building is impossible, since each apartment has its own life. But one thing is when loud sounds are rare and only if necessary. A completely different attitude to the noise of neighbors, if they constantly make noise, and no conversations and requests to reduce the volume of music or not to drill walls at night do not help. In such a situation, you have to act according to the algorithm of the law.
How loud you can make noise
The maximum permissible noise level mark in a residential building at any time of the day is established not by the codes of the Russian Federation, but by sanitary standards. A value above 70 dB is already considered not only a violation of existing legislation, but also a factor extremely harmful to the mental and physical health of a person.
The noise level standards in the apartment are spelled out in the following legal acts of the Russian Federation:
- SanPin 2.1.2.1002-00.
- Law No. 52-FZ of September 30, 1999.
In various settlements of the Russian Federation, their own sound volume standards are established. The following legislative acts apply in Moscow:
- Law of the city of Moscow No. 42 dated 07/12/2002
- Law of the city of Moscow No. 4 dated 03/29/2003
- PP Moscow №73-PP.
The maximum permissible values are in decibels.
In the daytime
The noise standards in the apartment during the daytime are determined by the time interval from 7:00 to 23:00. During this period on weekdays, the upper limit of any noise permitted by law is 40 decibels.
The noise norm in an apartment of 40 dB prescribed by law allows for sounds of rather weak strength, for example, a quiet dialogue.
There is also the time of the so-called afternoon rest from 13:00 to 15:00, when the noise level should not be higher than 25 decibels.
What to do for those who have repairs, because here you can’t do without knocking and rattling.
Construction and other works of this kind are allowed to be carried out between 9:00 and 19:00. These are the noise standards in a renovated apartment. At the same time, the total daily time for noisy work should not exceed six hours with a lunch break of one hour. The maximum allowable repair period in an apartment building should not exceed three months.
At night
According to the law, the noise norm in an apartment at night is set for a time period from 23:00 to 7:00.
During this period, the maximum permissible level of loud sounds is 30 dB.
It is considered unacceptable at night:
- Turn on the TV and other equipment.
- Continue repairs and handling.
- Sing, scream, knock, jump, play musical instruments.
On weekends and holidays
During this period, the schedule changes slightly. Daytime is considered to be from 10:00 to 22:00. Exceeding the above noise standards these days is permissible by only 15 dB.
There are also exceptions during which you can not do without loud sounds:
- National or city holidays with their inherent fireworks and events
- The noise is caused by an emergency, such as a fire, flood, war or the capture of criminals.
There is another concept: violation of sound insulation by the developer during the construction of apartment buildings and other premises. The legislation of the Russian Federation stipulates that sound insulation in high-rise buildings should not be such that noise penetrating outside or from neighboring rooms does not exceed 50 decibels. That is, the normal operation of the TV by the neighbors and their conversations should not be heard. If the rules are violated, the developer will be imposed a considerable fine in the case of submitting applications from residents and confirming all examinations.
Responsibility for breaking silence
A systematic violation of the noise level is punishable by various sanctions established by Article 23.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
For the first time, a citizen faces a warning or a fine. Its size is different, which depends on the time the violation of silence is committed.
Individuals must be punished. In the first, second and subsequent violations, a fine is issued in the amount of:
- In the first violation, from 1,000 to 3,000 rubles.
- At repeated - 4,000 rubles.
- With the third and subsequent excesses of the noise norm - 5,000 rubles.
In case of a systematic violation, a fine of double the tariff of mRot equal to 9 thousand is threatened, that is, the size of the fine is already 18,000 rubles.
For officials:
- The primary violation is 5,000 - 10,000 rubles.
- Secondary - 15,000 - 30,000 rubles.
- Subsequent - 50,000 rubles.
For legal entities:
- The first violation is 20-50 thousand rubles.
- The second - 60-80 thousand rubles.
- Subsequent - 100-150 thousand rubles.
As you can see, for neighbors that interfere with their noise (individuals) and for a cafe under the house (legal entities), fines differ significantly.
Where to file a complaint
If third-party noises are constantly present in the house, then you need to act. First you need to determine where the noise source is.
A written complaint should be filed with the HOA or CC serving the house. The management company will be required to send its employee to the address indicated in the complaint. This is done to make sure that third-party noises really exist, and to report to the higher management about it.
If there is no support from the Criminal Code, you must contact the Rospotrebnadzor or the prosecutor's office. These bodies will appoint the necessary examinations at the expense of the Criminal Code to determine the impact area, volume level and source.
After the surveys, the Criminal Code will receive recommendations with a time period during which the noise source must be eliminated.
If he is outside (this is a store, club, enterprise), then his complaint must be immediately addressed to the Rospotrebnadzor or the prosecutor's office, without involving the Criminal Code, since this is not their field of activity.
The employees of these services will carry out the necessary expertise and write a decision. After this period, service representatives are required to check whether the situation has changed, whether the noise level is within normal limits. In case of non-compliance with the recommendations of violators, a fine is expected.
If a high level of sound has already hurt the residents of the house, then this is a direct basis for going to court. However, there must be documented evidence of harm.
Why is it necessary to make an examination
The fact that people in the room are exposed to loud sounds can only be proved with the help of expertise. The remaining arguments, even if this is evidence of half the residents of the house, do not have sufficient legal force.
After the examination, the person receives an official document with all the necessary seals and signatures, having legal force. Examination of the noise level in the room is a direct basis for filing a lawsuit.
However, there are situations when a sanitary-epidemiological examination is not carried out, so these situations preclude the involvement of experts from the relevant services:
- The noise created by the operation of the alarm - a fire engine, police, etc.
- Loud sounds caused by natural phenomena.
- Conducting work to eliminate the consequences of accidents, floods and other natural disasters.
- Concern is caused by traffic outside the window.
- Noise created during ice or snow removal.
- The noise that arose during sports, cultural and political events.
Exceeding the noise standard in residential buildings is one of the main environmental pollution factors. This means that the indicator must be monitored so that there are no health problems. The Sanitary and Epidemiological Station has created a number of regulatory documents that determine the degree of danger of noise, both in residential premises and on the street, enterprises and other institutions.
The indicators for daytime and nighttime are indicated in the table below:
Various services are involved in monitoring compliance with these standards. So, the responsibility of Rospotrebnadzor includes monitoring the observance of the noise level in the workplace. In addition, employees of the Labor Inspectorate and the labor protection department carry out this work at enterprises. Compliance with the established noise standards in the apartment is checked by the sanitary-epidemiological service. It should be noted that the employees of this organization will come to measure only on the basis of a complaint from citizens or a court order. At the enterprises this work is carried out as planned.
How the noise level in an apartment is measured
We examined what noise standards in the apartment are established in the legislation. How to measure it so that the readings are correct?
A person exposed to noise should contact the Rospotrebnadzor, an independent company, or a sanatorium. Representatives of the relevant service travel to the place of call with the necessary equipment - sound level meter.
This is a decibel sound meter. It consists of a microphone, amplifier, correction filters, detector, integrator and indicator. The principle of operation of the sound level meter is that an increase in the level of sound pressure acting on the microphone membrane causes an increase in the voltage of the electric current at the input to the voltmeter. The noise level in decibels is displayed on the device indicator. In fact, all the work in the device is carried out by a microphone and a voltmeter connected to it.
Experts take measurements at several points, then derive the average number of results obtained (determine the average) and compare it with the permissible norms prescribed by law.
To fix the result of their work, specialists are required to draw up a measurement protocol, which will indicate the frequency and dynamic noise level.
Who measures
To independently check whether the permissible noise level in the apartment is respected, this activity is quite problematic for most citizens of the Russian Federation. Firstly, sound level meters have a considerable cost. Secondly, self-conducted measurements are not taken into account by organizations to which the tenant appealed, for example, by the prosecutor's office. An exceptionally professional examination and an act drawn up by a specialist will be considered evidence of an offense.
However, you need to conduct measurements yourself in order to be sure that there is indeed an excess of the norm. Everyone perceives sounds differently. Some may be annoyed by a TV working too loud, while others will worry that they can not hear anything. The sound level meter will show the exact values.
The need for such a check is not uncommon now. A nearby club or any other institution can create discomfort.
To establish the excess of standards, specialists who know the measurement methods are called. To carry out measurements, they have all the necessary instruments.
Remember, in the fight against the source of noise, you need a document that will be considered legal only when it is issued by the appropriate service - Rospotrebnadzor or a company that has the necessary license. If the examination is ordered by a court decision, it will be conducted by one of the forensic experts.
The cost of measuring the noise level in a residential building at Rospotrebnadzor is 600 rubles per point. In total, the departure of experts to check the noise level in the apartment during the daytime will be about five thousand rubles. The amount is quite high. If a specialist finds that the norms are not exceeded, material costs will be in vain. Therefore, having your own sound level meter in the house is very beneficial. For the departure of experts to check the noise level in the apartment at night, you will have to pay about ten thousand rubles.
It is advisable to measure the noise level in the daytime and at night.
You can turn to specialists to find out what noise level sounds that penetrate into the room from the street. This should be done in order to check whether the sound insulation standards were observed during the construction of a multi-storey building. If the fact of violations is proved, the developer will be obliged to carry out work to improve sound insulation and will write a considerable fine.
If the noise level created by an external source interferes with a quiet life, you do not need to endure. You should go to the Criminal Code, contact the Rospotrebnadzor, write a complaint to the prosecutor or call the police. If this does not produce the desired results, you should go to court.
Gathering evidence base, it is better not to conduct an examination with the help of commercial firms, as their services are expensive. The cost of measurements during the day will be about 10 thousand rubles, and at night - 15 thousand rubles. Testing by private experts of sound insulation will cost 30-50 thousand rubles. Before hiring this kind of specialists, you should check whether they have the necessary license. Before taking measurements between the customer and the company, an agreement must be drawn up. Having the evidence in hand, you can file a lawsuit against violators and win the process.
The main thing is to remember that a regular increased noise level in an apartment harms the health of its residents, especially children. Therefore, such offenses should not be ignored.