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This article is reproduced from [Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province];

Case Summary

The noise generated by residential elevator equipment falls within the scope of social life noise, and the "Social Life Environment Noise Emission Standard" can be used to determine whether the noise emission exceeds the standard. If the noise exceeds the limit and causes damage to others, the infringer shall bear the tort liability such as eliminating the interference and compensating for the loss.

Controversy

What standards should be applied to determine whether the noise emissions from residential elevators exceed the standard, and should the defendant bear tort liability for noise pollution?

Basic case

Ma bought the house involved in the case from a real estate company in March 2018 and moved in with his wife and two daughters. After moving in, Ma and his family reported the situation to the property management company of the community due to the elevator noise problem, but received no response. For this reason, Ma and his family filed a lawsuit for noise pollution liability dispute as joint plaintiffs, requesting a judgment that a real estate company should take corresponding sound insulation and noise reduction measures for the residential elevators in the building where the house involved in the case is located, so that the noise in the house involved in the case is below the national standard stipulated in GB22337-2008 "Social Living Environment Noise Emission Standard", and pay corresponding compensation and other expenses. According to the appraisal of a professional institution, the nighttime noise in the children's room of the house involved in the case exceeds the limit value stipulated in the "Social Living Environment Noise Emission Standard", and the daytime and nighttime noise in the living room (hall) also exceeds the maximum limit value of the above standard.

Judgement

The People's Court of Pengjiang District, Jiangmen City, held at first instance that, based on the opinion of the appraisal agency on the quality appraisal of the elevator noise in the building where the house in question is located, and referring to the "Social Living Environment Noise Emission Standard", it can be determined that the noise emission of the elevator in question exceeds the limit standard. As a construction unit, a real estate company should bear the tort liability for noise pollution. Therefore, the court ruled that a real estate company should take corresponding sound insulation and noise reduction measures within a time limit to make the noise emission limit of the elevator in question meet the relevant provisions of the "Social Living Environment Noise Emission Standard". If the standard is not met after the deadline, the four plaintiffs shall be compensated at a rate of 100 yuan per day from the date of the overdue date until the noise meets the standard; and the four plaintiffs shall be paid 8,000 yuan in mental damages and 1,000 yuan in testing fees. The Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court upheld the original judgment at second instance.

Typical significance

With the increasing number of urban elevator housing, the occurrence of elevator safety accidents has attracted more and more attention from the general public. In response to the issues that the public has expressed strong opinions about, real estate developers pay more attention to the design and safety of elevators, but tend to ignore whether the noise generated by elevators meets the standards. This case applies the "Social Living Environment Noise Emission Standards" and determines that the noise emissions of the elevators involved in the case exceed the standards. This handling result effectively protects the environmental rights and interests of the people, and at the same time reminds real estate developers to pay attention to noise compliance and consciously assume their due social responsibilities for environmental protection. It has a good warning significance and also serves as a reference for the trial of similar cases.

Judge Profile

Judge's Notes

Identify the noise emission standards for residential elevators to effectively protect the physical and mental health of the people

Home is the origin of bloodline inheritance and the harbor of the soul. It plays an irreplaceable role and position in the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. House is the external material carrier of home, and its importance is self-evident. Some people may struggle all their lives to own a comfortable house for themselves and their family.

When people buy a house, the surrounding environment and supporting facilities, including noise, are the focus of consideration, but elevator noise is often overlooked and not easy to detect when buying a house. According to Article 59 of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution", "Social life noise referred to in this Law refers to the sound generated by human activities that disturbs the surrounding living environment, except for industrial noise, construction noise and transportation noise", the noise generated by elevator shared facilities and equipment in residential areas belongs to the category of social life noise. If there is elevator noise pollution in residential areas, it will inevitably affect the normal life and physical and mental health of residents for a long time. There are three main types of elevator noise standards in my country: industry standards, building standards and environmental protection standards. How to determine the applicable standards is the premise for ascertaining the facts and distinguishing the civil liability of the parties in this case. The emission limits of industry standards and building standards are too high, which are obviously not applicable to the requirements of noise-sensitive buildings such as bedrooms in daily life. Among the environmental protection standards, the "Social Living Environment Noise Emission Standard" clearly distinguishes the noise emission limits for living areas such as rooms that are mainly used for sleeping and need to be quiet at night and rooms that are mainly used during the day and need to ensure thinking and concentration, and normal speech is not disturbed, in view of the situation where the noise emission source is located in noise-sensitive buildings. The limit provisions are more detailed and specific. Therefore, it is more objective and reasonable to refer to the "Social Living Environment Noise Emission Standard" as the basis for determining whether the noise emission in this case exceeds the standard. This case is based on the fact that the long-term noise exceeding the standard environment has a relatively serious impact and great harm to the normal life and physical and mental health of the plaintiff's family. Even if it has not caused actual economic losses or serious consequences of physical damage, the person responsible for the noise should still make necessary compensation. Therefore, the developer was ordered to take corresponding sound insulation and noise reduction measures and pay corresponding mental damages and other expenses. This judgment not only effectively protects the environmental rights and interests of the people, but also promotes real estate developers to consciously assume their due social responsibilities for environmental protection.