Agree, this is a fairly common situation:You have a nice apartment, but the thought of having to return to it after a working day involuntarily makes you shudder. The trouble is that, being at home, you are completely deprived of the opportunity to rest peacefully. You have noisy neighbors - what should you do if you are so unlucky? And it does not matter what kind of noise they make; the main thing is that by doing so they invade your personal space and do not allow you to enjoy the right to rest, which the law seems to guarantee to all of us. But this very law, as we know, is not written for everyone. So what should you do then? Is it possible to somehow influence the troublemakers? What actions should you take, where should you go and what should you demand?
When noise becomes a violation of the law
First, we need to soberly assess the situation,to understand whether your neighbors are really breaking the law. After all, it is the law that defines the limits of permissible noise; after all, for some people even the squeak of a mosquito gets on their nerves and prevents them from sleeping! And the situations can be different. It is not necessarily that noisy neighbors are bothering you; it is quite possible that the disturbance is caused by a construction site located near your house, a kiosk selling music CDs with daily audio advertising of the products sold, a restaurant located on the first floor of your house, and so on. Well, let's look at it in order. First of all, let's remember what the law says about noise. And it determines that from eight o'clock in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning nothing should disturb the peace of citizens. The "Law on Silence" makes an exception only for those cases when noise accompanies work that is carried out to eliminate the consequences of accidents, various natural disasters, as well as actions aimed at preventing all kinds of offenses. In addition, the law allows disturbing the peace in the event of religious rites (for example, ringing the bells of an Orthodox church) or cultural events approved by the authorities. The strength of the noise produced is also important. Thus, the law provides for compliance with sanitary standards (permissible noise limit) not only at night, but also during the day. The level of noise produced can be measured; there are special devices for this. The "Noise Law" dictates the following conditions: from seven o'clock in the morning until eighty-three o'clock in the evening, the noise level must not exceed forty decibels. And at night - that is, from eighty-three o'clock in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning - the permissible noise level is only thirty decibels. How can you find out what noise of this level actually is? As they say, everything is known through comparison. Let's compare! Here are simple examples: when talking, a person creates noise of about sixty-five decibels. An alarm clock ringing is already eighty decibels. The sound of an alarm from a car parked under the windows is about one hundred decibels. Of course, it is unrealistic to expect that during the day everyone will strictly observe the established norms, trying not to break the law. And at night you cannot always hope for complete silence. But it is one thing if noise occurs from time to time, and quite another if on a regular basis. It is especially offensive when it is noisy neighbors who disturb your rest. And what to do in such a case?
Talk to neighbors
In general, two types of reactions are most commonto noisy neighbors. Firstly, it is an angry reaction. It must be said that anger has never helped anyone solve any problems. The second type of reaction is to resign yourself and endure the noise further. It seems to you that nothing can be done anyway, and even if there is a “Law on Silence”, no one will rush to your aid or defend you. In the end, if you endure the noise from your neighbors for long enough, even the most humble person will eventually have the first type of reaction - he will become angry. Both types of reactions are undesirable, since you will not achieve anything with their help. To avoid negative consequences, we advise you to resort to a simple and reliable method: try to simply talk peacefully with your neighbors about the excessive noise that is annoying you. If you do this calmly and politely, it may well be that you will easily and permanently get rid of the problem. It may even turn out that your neighbor did not know that he had become a source of discomfort for you. For example, he has a music center set to turn on automatically when he is at work. The person sets it up and forgets about it! And he has no idea that every day the sounds coming from his apartment prevent you from getting enough sleep after a night shift. Or he can’t get around to fixing the constantly going off car alarm, not realizing that it can be heard perfectly well on your ninth floor. Whatever the case, whether your neighbor was disturbing you consciously or unconsciously, try to calmly present your arguments that he is disturbing your rest. Remind him that the law requires compliance with certain noise standards not only at night, but also during the day. Often you have to deal with the fact that people only know about the need to maintain silence at night, but not everyone knows that the law sets certain limits for noise during the day. Talk to your neighbors about this and try to find a compromise solution.
Call the police
If your efforts to resolve everything peacefully do not workworked, then seek help from law enforcement agencies. The law is the law, and violating it must be punished. You must show the police that you tried to solve the noise problem yourself. Tell them how many times you contacted your neighbors and what solutions you suggested to resolve the situation. Also tell them how often the noise occurs and how loud it is. It is advisable that your story be supported by the testimony of another neighbor. It is best to call the police exactly when the neighbors are making a lot of noise. This will serve as the best evidence of the violation of your right to rest, which is guaranteed to you by law. And the police will be able to personally assess the noise level. Just be prepared for the fact that you will then have to wait until the appropriate reports are drawn up in order to sign them. It must be assumed that this will bring you little pleasure, especially if it happens at night; but this is the order, and law enforcement officials cannot violate it. What is the threat to violators of the peace of citizens? The law provides for a warning or a fine. The fine amount is from one thousand to two thousand rubles if the fine is imposed on citizens, from four to eight thousand on officials, and from forty to eighty thousand on legal entities.
Apply to the court
Going to court is a last resort.If police reports have not yielded any results, then going to court in civil cases will help you decide what to do with noisy neighbors. Unfortunately, most citizens do not dare to take such a step, limiting themselves to contacting the police. People reason like this: “If the police did not help me, then no one else will! Well, really, I can’t run around the courts because my neighbor’s son likes hard metal music! It will cost me more.” And they think so in vain! The law is on your side, and you can always find a way to bring violators to justice. In addition, can you imagine that, experiencing noise attacks day after day, you are putting your health at serious risk? According to scientific research, a constant noise level of only eighty decibels (remember, normal human speech is approximately sixty to sixty-five decibels) can quickly cause hearing loss. Regular exposure to noise levels above one hundred decibels can cause hearing loss, while noise levels of one hundred and ten decibels and above can cause concussion. Not to mention the shattered nervous system and impaired performance due to constant lack of sleep. So don’t neglect the opportunity to go to court. Your ultimate goal is to stop the noise, and to do this, you need to use all possible means. You may be surprised how effectively the mere fact of calling your restless neighbor to court can calm him down! In order to win your case in court, you must provide evidence that you are the victim of constant excessive noise and that it is your neighbor who is the source of this noise. You will also need to show that you previously tried to resolve the matter peacefully and asked your neighbor to take measures to limit the noise. As evidence, you can show copies of letters you wrote to your neighbor, witnesses’ accounts, a recording of the noise made with a dictaphone, and a chronicle of your calls to the police. Your own accounts of the actions of noisy neighbors will also be taken into account. If you had to seek medical help due to the inability to maintain good performance, the reason for which was the lack of adequate rest, then the documents from the clinic must also be attached to the evidence. If your evidence is considered sufficient, then the court will rule in your favor. What exactly this decision will be depends on each specific situation. It can be the same fine, compensation for moral or material (if, for example, due to the repairs started by the neighbors upstairs, the plaster fell from your ceiling) damage. In some cases, a decision was even made to evict residents who maliciously violated the rules of the dormitory. But if you really do not want to get involved with your neighbors, then you will have only one thing left to do - make repairs to improve the soundproofing in your apartment. True, such soundproofing will make the area of the rooms a little smaller, but you will forget about noise and noisy neighbors forever!
