“When I lay down to sleep, I get stuck in there saying, ‘I need to hear a sound’ … After all, sometimes until 3 or 4 in the morning… I am afraid to come home.” (a man living in Daegu)
“Everyone in my family wore slippers and put mats on the floor. I also put clothes on the legs of the chair. Even following all that, the letters keep getting pasted.” (a woman living in Incheon)
The government subsidizes interest expenses when installing noise reduction mats to solve the noise problem between floors in apartment houses, and makes it mandatory for apartment houses with 500 or more to install a noise management committee between floors. In addition, construction companies that construct high-performance floor structures to reduce noise between floors are allowed to add related costs to the sale price.
On the 18th, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong held a meeting regarding noise between floors at a rental house in Mangwoo-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul and announced the ‘Measures to improve noise between floors in apartment houses’. It is also the first detailed follow-up measure of the ‘Realization Plan for National Housing Stability’ announced on the 16th.
The government judged that the number of people at home is increasing due to the spread of COVID-19, and the number of complaints regarding noise between floors is increasing rapidly. It was also seen that measures to mitigate noise between floors were urgently needed to improve the quality of people’s housing. In fact, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, regarding 64% of apartment dwellers experienced conflicts due to noise between floors.
For this reason, the government has decided to subsidize interest costs when installing noise reduction mats that have proven performance in reducing noise between floors for newly built apartment houses. Interest on the installation fee (up to 3 million won) is provided at no interest to the low-income class (1st to 3rd decile), and even if the middle class (4th to 7th decile) has children, the interest rate is as low as 1% per year. Depending on the product, the floor mat can achieve a performance improvement effect of up to 3 dB (decibel). According to the construction industry, the noise generated when a child jumps off the sofa is at the level of 50 dB.
In addition, in apartment complexes with more than 500 households, the installation of an inter-floor noise management committee is compulsory. In the event of a dispute, it was decided to establish a self-governing resident organization in which residents, their representatives, and the head of the management office participate. As of the end of June this year, there are 18,515 apartment complexes nationwide, of which 44% (8116) are complexes with more than 500 households.
Incentives are also provided to construction companies to block the generation of inter-floor noise from the construction stage. Only in newly constructed apartments, the level of noise between floors is measured, and if the heavy impact sound (heavy and soft impact) called the so-called ‘foot hammer sound’ is level 1 (40 decibels (dB) or less), a 30% discount on the presale guarantee fee is given. Levels 2 and 3 receive a 20% and 10% discount, respectively.
The pre-sale guarantee fee is a fee that the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) receives in exchange for guaranteeing the completion of the house or the refund of the pre-sale price in case the construction company goes bankrupt. If a construction company constructing a 1,000-unit apartment building receives a first grade, regarding 500 million won in sales guarantee fees can be saved. In addition, if the floor thickness is additionally secured (over 210mm), the pre-sale price will be added and the height restriction will be relaxed.
In addition, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to notify the results of noise measurement between floors by apartment complexes to guarantee residents’ right to know, and to induce healthy competition by selecting and disclosing excellent contractors every year. Support for technology development to reduce noise between floors will also be strengthened. Most of the current apartment houses are wall-type structures, so noise and vibration are easily transmitted to the lower floors along the walls. Accordingly, it was decided to demonstrate the effect of mitigating noise between floors for the ramen (column type) structure and, if the effect is proven, to promote the relaxation of building standards such as floor area ratio and height restrictions to spread the ramen structure.
Minister Won said, “In some cases, noise between floors can lead to terrible crimes, and it is a problem that is not easy to solve, but it cannot be neglected.”
By Kim Eun-jung, staff reporter [email protected]