Don’t laugh. I’m well aware of the fact that I live in one of the most crowded, noisest cities on earth. I’ve gotten used to it.
However, for the past four or five days, the owner of the apartment two levels up has had workmen reconstructing his apartment. The predominant noise is coming from a jackhammer. A jackhammer that has been in use for the past four or five days, from 8:30 am to 5 pm. The noise level is such that I can’t talk on the phone with clients or vendors, let alone sleep or concentrate. I have to run out to an Internet cafe to office, rather than using the home office like I normally do. This costs me money and time, and is inconvenient.
Those of you with legal experience in Taiwan–are you aware of a clause in any apartment rental contract, or any law on the books that guarantees the right to peaceful enjoyment of premises? We have such laws in the States, though I’m not familiar with the specifics.
I am not angry with the workmen, but I am angry with the owner of the apartment. His desire for redecoration disrupts my desire (and my neighbors’ desire) for peace. I feel that at the rent my neighbors and I pay to live in this upscale place, there should be some sort of clause in the contract stating that once the building is entirely built out, owners of individual units cannot disrupt the right to peaceful enjoyment. There should be some sort of reasonable time limit for making structural changes that require the use of a jackhammer, lest the tenants are at the mercy of each new tenant’s decorative whims.
[quote=“Tomas”]Don’t laugh. I’m well aware of the fact that I live in one of the most crowded, noisest cities on earth. I’ve gotten used to it.
However, for the past four or five days, the owner of the apartment two levels up has had workmen reconstructing his apartment. The predominant noise is coming from a jackhammer. A jackhammer that has been in use for the past four or five days, from 8:30 am to 5 pm. The noise level is such that I can’t talk on the phone with clients or vendors, let alone sleep or concentrate. I have to run out to an Internet cafe to office, rather than using the home office like I normally do. This costs me money and time, and is inconvenient.
Those of you with legal experience in Taiwan–are you aware of a clause in any apartment rental contract, or any law on the books that guarantees the right to peaceful enjoyment of premises? We have such laws in the States, though I’m not familiar with the specifics.
I am not angry with the workmen, but I am angry with the owner of the apartment. His desire for redecoration disrupts my desire (and my neighbors’ desire) for peace. I feel that at the rent my neighbors and I pay to live in this upscale place, there should be some sort of clause in the contract stating that once the building is entirely built out, owners of individual units cannot disrupt the right to peaceful enjoyment. There should be some sort of reasonable time limit for making structural changes that require the use of a jackhammer, lest the tenants are at the mercy of each new tenant’s decorative whims.
Any insight(s)?[/quote]
Tomas,
Oh how I can empathize! I took time off this past Christmas and new years and the folks below us decided to bring in the jackhammers for both those times. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is any prohibition against this type of work… although there may be some vague custom whereby in practice the workers quit by dinner time.
But with most people out and about early on each day, and with everyone wanting the freedom to renovate should they at sometime so desire, most people simply suffer through others’ renovations.
I’ll check on whether there is any relevant law on the matter… but don’t get your hopes up.
There is a time limit – 8:30 am till around 5. We have a hotel under construction next door to us and that’s exactly when they start up their generators. But I’ll get my revenge soon – we’re in the process of buying a place, and my FIRST move will be to hire a jackhammer and get to work on the floors.
Yes, I suspect that my only recourse is corporal punishment against the prick who decided that he’d ruin everyone’s week so that he could have a loft. I’m thinking atomic wedgie (see Seinfeld), or genital cuff (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels).
there’s an “ROC Noise Pollution Act” that’s currently in its 3rd review by the Legislative Yuan. It was promulgated in '83 and amended in '92, apparently with ever-increasing scope that now also contains measures to protect one’s “peace & quiet”.
I don’t have the text here, but you might try and get it at
They publish English translations of national laws & regulations for the Legislative Yuan, copies are ususally free or will be sent when postage is paid by recipient.
Hope the address is still correct, I haven’t used them in quite a while …
Tomas, I understand your annoyance all too well. I live next door to an orphanage and is it ever loud before school, after school, during lunch, and on the weekends. (What, don’t these kids have somewhere better to go?)
This lame joke highlights the fact that sometimes people have no option but to inconvenience others in the normal scope of their life. With respect to your neighbors what would you have them do? They want to improve their home. How can they do this without causing some disturbance (ok a lot) when they live in an apartment? It seems like they are working within the hours that will inconvenience the least amount of people. What more can you ask for? This is a serious question because if you, or anyone else has a good answer, i will use it in the future.
This weekend my wife and I are having all the windows changed in our apartment. I know this will be noisy but what can I do about it? The windows are really old, some are broken, and all have rusty, dirty frames. Later this year I want to get hardwood floors put in. Again, I’m sure this will prevent someone from getting a good nap that afternoon.
Problem is that when one neighbor remodels then it seems to give other neighbors ideas of doing the same thing; at least that is what happened on the lane where I lived off Min Chuan East Road. The people above did it, then the people across the street on the same floor, then the people downstairs, etc. How I wished that the government would outlaw jackhammers.
Because of this and all the lonely dogs who were left at home and barked all afternoon, a place that should have been a haven became a hell. Finally had to move because all this noise, plus all the funeral processions which weaved through our neighborhood, plus as the restaurants closed for the nightthen the breakfast shops opened.
I sympathize. Taiwanese people just don’t care. The EPA or whatever they are don’t care either. It’s just the way things are here. Causing inconvenience to neighbours doesn’t show up on the radar. However, start playing your hi-fi, or having a party this Christmas and see how much they care…
My take on it is that between the hours of 8:30 to 5pm on a weekday is not too unreasonable. Weekends should be noise free. Whilst most people are at work between 8:30 and 5 on weekdays, almost everyone is off on a Sunday, and if you are making excessive noise at that time then you are a selfish bastard, foreigner or local.
I had it out with a guy downstairs from me, and he was completely surprised that I would be annoyed at his constant drilling. He agreed to leave it until after 9 on weekdays, and after lunch at weekends. I found that an acceptable arrangement. I was in fact very surprised that he was prepared to bend at all.
I also have a music school next door, run by an awful woman who terrorises whichever poor unfortunate kid(s) are learning the piano / violin. The same tune over and over for 5 months now, always followed by a tirade of abuse from the Bitch. Hideous.
This is all very surprising to me. I would stay out of upscale places due to cost versus space issues(I’m a cheapskate).
Most of the older buildings I’ve lived in have been relatively quiet. The worst was a rooftop near a traditional Taiwanese market. That was a year of hell and I still regret that place even though I no longer live there.
Personally I could understand 1 or 2 days, but 4-5 is ridiculous and I would be having a definite talk with the workmen, especially in your situation, just don’t make any more comments towards their wives.
Tomas, have you tried to contact your building’s housing committee or at least started with the doorman? I had a run-in with a neighbor over my dog (not barking, but the way she smelled ) and the head of the committe, a regular tenent himself, was pretty helpful in getting stuff worked out.
I agree with Hexuan and the others that say a contract does not mean much.
Jackhammers are for major demolition of heavy duty concrete structures. I would be concerned about the structural integrity of my building. Some things are not supposed to be torn down. At the very least there should be building codes to be conformed to. If you could get the proper athorities to inspect, that might put a stop to it.
[quote=“hexuan”]I sympathize. Taiwanese people just don’t care. The EPA or whatever they are don’t care either. It’s just the way things are here. Causing inconvenience to neighbours doesn’t show up on the radar. However, start playing your hi-fi, or having a party this Christmas and see how much they care…
My take on it is that between the hours of 8:30 to 5pm on a weekday is not too unreasonable. Weekends should be noise free. Whilst most people are at work between 8:30 and 5 on weekdays, almost everyone is off on a Sunday, and if you are making excessive noise at that time then you are a selfish bastard, foreigner or local.[/quote]
But if Taiwanese people don’t care about the noise, then how are the people that are making the noise “selfish bastards”? I mean they are doing something no one else except for some foreigners cares about.
Why wouldn’t he be surprised if, as you stated above, Taiwanese don’t care about such noise? Actually, I have found that my neighbors have been willing to turn down their stereos when asked (not all of them but then again I’ve had bad neighbors in every country in which I’ve lived). The only area where I find people unwilling to bend is in regard to their barking dogs.
The posts are somewhat dated and I wonder if anyone has updated and more information.
Just moved to Taipei County. From our balcony we have a wonderful view of a mountain and an area below where they manufacture huge metal drainage pipes! I think I’m now okay about the messed up view but the working on Sundays starting at 8 a.m. I can’t accept (especially the loading and moving of finished pipes).
Is there an agency where I can complain? Would it be the same agency for Taipei County? Do any of you think there’s a good chance that the drain manufacturing is illegal for what is otherwise a residential area?
[quote=“Shawerma”]The posts are somewhat dated and I wonder if anyone has updated and more information.
Just moved to Taipei County. From our balcony we have a wonderful view of a mountain and an area below where they manufacture huge metal drainage pipes! I think I’m now okay about the messed up view but the working on Sundays starting at 8 a.m. I can’t accept (especially the loading and moving of finished pipes).
Is there an agency where I can complain? Would it be the same agency for Taipei County? Do any of you think there’s a good chance that the drain manufacturing is illegal for what is otherwise a residential area?
Thanks in advance for anyone that can help out.[/quote]
[quote=“Shawerma”][quote=“Shawerma”]The posts are somewhat dated and I wonder if anyone has updated and more information.
Just moved to Taipei County. From our balcony we have a wonderful view of a mountain and an area below where they manufacture huge metal drainage pipes! I think I’m now okay about the messed up view but the working on Sundays starting at 8 a.m. I can’t accept (especially the loading and moving of finished pipes).
Is there an agency where I can complain? Would it be the same agency for Taipei County? Do any of you think there’s a good chance that the drain manufacturing is illegal for what is otherwise a residential area?
Thanks in advance for anyone that can help out.[/quote]
I got the number to the EPA: 0800 066-666
I’ll let everyone know how it goes.[/quote]
Well, I called the EPA. The VERY interesting thing is that I discovered that the operation next to my apartment has no street number. And judging by what the guard at our building told me (that it was “empty land”), there’s a good chance that the whole operation’s illegal. The guy at the EPA also seems to think so.
I’ll let everyone know. I was told to call back in 7-9 working days to check on the progress of this case.
[quote=“Shawerma”][quote=“Shawerma”][quote=“Shawerma”]The posts are somewhat dated and I wonder if anyone has updated and more information.
Just moved to Taipei County. From our balcony we have a wonderful view of a mountain and an area below where they manufacture huge metal drainage pipes! I think I’m now okay about the messed up view but the working on Sundays starting at 8 a.m. I can’t accept (especially the loading and moving of finished pipes).
Is there an agency where I can complain? Would it be the same agency for Taipei County? Do any of you think there’s a good chance that the drain manufacturing is illegal for what is otherwise a residential area?
Thanks in advance for anyone that can help out.[/quote]
I got the number to the EPA: 0800 066-666
I’ll let everyone know how it goes.[/quote]
Well, I called the EPA. The VERY interesting thing is that I discovered that the operation next to my apartment has no street number. And judging by what the guard at our building told me (that it was “empty land”), there’s a good chance that the whole operation’s illegal. The guy at the EPA also seems to think so.
I’ll let everyone know. I was told to call back in 7-9 working days to check on the progress of this case.[/quote]
I’m somewhat surprised by the positive outcome so far. Keep us posted!
Well, the EPA turned out to be absolutely useless. I called with the initial complaint then I called back in two weeks. I was first told that they couldn’t find the location so I made a new complaint. I was so pissed off about the whole process that I called again the next day. Then I was told that they did find the location but the measurements revealed a sound level of less than 70 decibels. After explaining that the sound wasn’t at a constantly high level and that I was sure it did exceed 70 decibels at times, they said they would check again. It’s been another two weeks and the situation hasn’t improved. I almost don’t even feel like calling back. In the back of mind I doubt that anyone was even sent out to check.
I’m looking into other options because I still feel that something isn’t right with this factory/operation next to my apartment (my gut tells me that the company’s not licensed and it seems there must be some zoning violations going on). Will keep everyone posted. Anyone have any suggestions?
) and the head of the committe, a regular tenent himself, was pretty helpful in getting stuff worked out.
Keep us posted!