Peace and Quiet

BY: KELLIE WRIGHT, GENERAL MANAGER BRISBANE

Maybe its continual loud music; a noisy air-conditioning unit; a barking dog; or a neighbour who is renovating, any of these could see your home life turn from harmony to misery. Excessive noise can disrupt sleep patterns, interfere with the peace and quiet and in extreme situations noise may impact on people's health.

 

Your neighbours may be unaware that their activity is affecting your peaceful enjoyment. Give them the benefit of the doubt, always assume that your neighbour doesn't realize his noise is disruptive. The first step is always conciliatory. At SSKB our first step when dealing with noise complaints is approaching the offender to let them know that they are creating a noise which is affecting the peaceful enjoyment of those around them. In most situations that first step brings relief and restores harmony.

 

Here are some guidelines for generally accepted noise limits and some suggestions for reducing the noise:

 

AIR-CONDITIONING

The Environmental Protection Agency's general guidelines are that noise from an air-conditioner, when measured from a neighbour's premises should not exceed five decibels from 7am-10pm and three decibels from 10pm to 7am.

 

ANIMALS

Local Councils have limits on the amount of noise which is acceptable for animals to make. Generally Councils consider the noise to be unacceptable if it is ongoing and is more than:

 

 

• 6 minutes of continual animal noise over a one hour period during the hours of 7am-10pm; or
• 3 minutes of continual animal noise over a half hour period during the hours of 10pm-7am.

*Generally guidelines only check with your local Council for exact details in your area.

 

RENOVATIONS/BUILDING WORKS

Almost every street in every suburb has some type of building works being carried out, either with new constructions or with renovations. There are two types of building works which can cause the most grief for neighbours. Those which aim to get the work done as quickly as possible and will work whatever hours it takes to get the work finished on time and those home handymen who potter away whenever time permits on their home renovation. Both can be equally annoying. Local Councils have restrictions on noise from building sites, generally work on building sites is unacceptable on Sundays . Monday to Friday is usually limited to the hours of 6.30am to 6.30pm.

 

As a body corporate you should consider adopting by-laws to help better control noise within your community. Your by-laws may include:

 

 

• AIR-CONDITIONING - location of condensor units; specifications for air-conditioning equipment; regular servicing of air-conditioning units; barriers or fencing.
• PETS -set strict guidelines for acceptable noise levels and make approvals conditional upon the animal not impeding on the peaceful enjoyment of other occupants in the community.
• RENOVATIONS/BUILDING WORKS- Limit hours of building works within the community; include specifications for hard flooring; set timelines for completion of renovations.

If you think you may cause a noise which might become annoying to your neighbours, discuss it with the parties who may be affected; your neighbours; your body corporate committee; your building manager and your community manager. Successful community living means considering others.

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