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There are numerous units in my block where people over the years have tiled all their floors. Whether with permission or not, I have no idea.
Currently, there is a family of 5 below me who play drums, scrape chairs across the floor, drop objects on the tiles, stamp around, open and close sliding doors, and chat loudly. I can even hear them wee in the night. All of this noise keeps me awake. They start before 7am and are still going at 11:30pm.
Can I get the Strata Manager to tell them to either carpet the floors and/or lay down rugs? The building was originally designed with carpets on all floors except the bathrooms and kitchens.
Are there any other ways to stop the noise?
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Assuming you have tried to get the owners downstairs to cut down the noise by asking them to put down rugs and be more considerate, and they haven’t complied, now check your by-laws.
There should be one that says something like “An owner or occupier of a lot must not create any noise on the parcel likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of the owner or occupier of another lot or of any person lawfully using common property.”
There may even be a by-law that forbids owners from removing carpet without permission or subject to the installation of sound insulation.
If either of these are in place, ask your strata committee and/or strata manager to issue a Notice To Comply. In the meantime, start recording the noise, create a noise diary of the kind of excessive noise and when it happened, and get visitors and other owners to give you statutory declarations witnessing the noise from below.
If the committee or strata manager won’t help, apply to Fair Trading for mediation with a view to seeking orders at NCAT.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
I feel your pain, it’s why complexs need to ensure the body corporate committee has the rules in place and is proactive enforcing this. If they are not it can be hard to correct without a whole lot of cost and angst for all concerned. Noisey hard surfaces need to have a sound deadening underlay and not just be laid straight on the stripped back concrete floor. Probably the most likely culprits are home renovators/DIYers, off-site investors, or those looking to renovate and on-sell to someone else.
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