Conflicts over noise between floors are common, but why are they not resolved? Lack of legal and educational measures by the government and lack of consideration between residents are the main reasons.
As long ago as May 17, 2014, a resident of an apartment in Seoul, South Korea, fatally stabbed his upstairs neighbor to death during an argument over noise between floors. The downstairs resident went to the upstairs neighbor to complain about “thumping noises,” and the two got into a fight. The fight ended in one death. This is not the only incident. This is not the only incident in Korea, where conflicts over noise between floors often lead to fights and even murder. In fact, when the 110 Government Complaint Information Call Center, operated by the National Human Rights Commission, surveyed 3,040 people through the 110 Call Center blog and Facebook, 88% of respondents said they had experienced stress due to inter-floor noise. In addition, 54% of respondents have had a fight with their neighbors due to inter-floor noise, in the order of arguing, retaliating, and fighting. Based on these numbers alone, the problem of noise between floors in Korea is very serious. What’s worse, however, is that there are no consensus solutions to reduce the problem. Whenever there is a murder due to interstitial noise, the media reports it seriously, and the victim is sympathized with, and the government rushes to come up with a solution or a conflict structure solution, but it doesn’t get as much attention as the victim or the perpetrator. The government’s solutions don’t really resonate with people, and they sound like band-aids to cover up the situation, so it can be said that people have become desensitized to this meaningless cycle. In fact, there is a simple solution to reduce inter-floor noise. You can do your cleaning and laundry during the day, wear soft-soled living room shoes, label the underside of your furniture with noise-proof labels, and put down a living room mat. But who among us doesn’t know these solutions? So, despite these solutions that everyone knows, the reason why the problem of interfloor noise persists is that the government’s efforts to solve interfloor noise are not approaching the problem at the root. I will criticize the problems with the government’s solutions, and then present what I believe to be the fundamental solution.
First, the government’s legislation on noise between floors comes too late and has many problems. Until a few months ago, there was no law in Korea to regulate inter-floor noise in real life. Korea’s Noise and Vibration Management Act has regulatory standards for traffic noise, business noise, and aircraft noise, but there were no standards for damages for interfloor noise, so legal resolution and compensation were not possible. Therefore, on May 14, 2014, the government issued and enforced the “Rules on Inter-floor Noise Standards for Apartment Houses,” which set minimum standards for living noise in apartment houses. The rule categorizes inter-floor noise into two types, direct impact noise and airborne noise, and sets limits for daytime and nighttime noise. With these standards in place, if the parties involved in an inter-floor noise dispute are unable to reconcile, a public organization can apply the standards when settling the dispute. However, if we look at the content of the “Rules on Interfloor Noise Standards for Apartment Buildings,” we can see that the rules hold the residents of apartment buildings responsible for interfloor noise problems. But is it always the residents who are responsible? Noise problems between floors can start from the construction of the building. There have been cases of defective building materials or the use of low-grade materials to save money when constructing a building. In order to prevent this, the thickness of the building’s floor and wall materials should be made thicker to prevent noise. Some may argue that thickening the concrete used for the floor or walls of a building is expensive, which could lead to an increase in house prices, making it more difficult for people to afford a home. However, according to a 2002 article in the Korea Construction Newspaper about the increase in construction costs for Jooonggong apartments, Jooonggong promoted the plan to increase construction costs on the premise of finding savings in other sectors to offset the increase in apartment costs. Therefore, if construction costs are increased, the financial burden on the public can be reduced by finding savings in other sectors. After construction is completed, trust between contractors and residents should be established by selecting tenant representatives and mobilizing experts to ensure that the building’s noise prevention is done properly. In sum, the government should not only hold residents responsible for interstorey noise, but should also develop laws and regulations that take into account all factors from the construction of the building.
Second, the government has not done a good job of educating people about interfloor noise and promoting solutions to the problem. In Korea, education on interfloor noise is poorly implemented or non-existent from kindergarten to university. As Korea’s national income has risen and the quality of life has improved, people’s expectations of the environment have become higher. As a result, etiquette education in public facilities such as subways and movie theaters has increased, and the government has been making great efforts to improve the environment by implementing policies to improve water quality, air quality, and so on. However, education on environmental improvement in residential environments has not been properly implemented, and inter-floor noise is at the center of the problem. In order to solve the problem of noise between floors, the government has implemented the “Neighbor-to-Neighbor Service” to induce understanding and dispute resolution between parties by providing expert telephone consultation and on-site noise measurement services, and established the “Environmental Dispute Mediation Committee” to resolve environmental disputes quickly and fairly. However, due to the lack of publicity, the public is not utilizing these programs properly. To solve this problem, there should be education and promotion from schools and society. Schools should provide education on comfortable living conditions and etiquette in apartment buildings. In addition, public service announcements about interfloor noise should be made and interfloor noise experience programs should be conducted to make people aware of how much interfloor noise affects others and how to reduce it. People should also be made aware of the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Service, the Environmental Dispute Resolution Board, and other laws and regulations related to noise issues. People should also be aware of how to resolve disputes so that the parties can resolve them peacefully.
In the previous section, I criticized the government’s solution and presented my own solution to the problem of noise between floors. However, I believe the most fundamental solution to the problem of noise between floors is to change our attitudes. We need to spread a culture of consideration among neighbors. Korea’s society has developed a lot, but it has also become more individualistic, and the relationship between neighbors in apartment buildings has become estranged to the point where the term “next door cousin” is meaningless. As a result of this lack of intimate relationships, neighbors may think, “The other person won’t mind if I make noise that causes damage to my neighbors,” and they may not be able to come to an agreement when they have a dispute over inter-floor noise. Therefore, to solve the inter-floor noise problem, neighbors need to be considerate of each other and have a sense of community that thinks of everyone, not just themselves. This is not a difficult task. We can start with small actions. When you move into a new apartment building, greeting your neighbors upstairs, downstairs, and next door, asking your neighbors in advance if you’re going to have a lot of people over, and sharing your food purchases with your neighbors when you buy a lot of food can really help you maintain a close relationship. And always keep in mind that you can be a victim or an aggressor, so you should be more considerate of your neighbors.
So there you have it, the government’s problem with noise between floors, and some fundamental ways to solve it. The government hasn’t made laws and regulations on interstitial noise, the new rules have many problems, and education and publicity about interstitial noise hasn’t been properly implemented, which is why interstitial noise problems have continued to occur. In this article, I propose a radical solution to spread a culture of consideration among neighbors, keeping in mind that we can be both victims and perpetrators at any time. At a time when a comfortable living environment is more important than ever, noise between floors is a big problem that cannot be left unaddressed. I hope that the government, experts, and the general public will work together to reduce the problem of noise between floors and bring Korea one step closer to becoming a developed country.
