The co-owners of a BC strata lot who were sick of making noise complaints took up the matter in a small claims case, forcing the strata corporation to pay after a tribunal found that the noise was “potentially very disturbing.”
David and Tanya Williams alleged that the strata failed to adequately investigate noise complaints in a townhouse complex and enforce its bylaws.
The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision refers to the couple as the Williamses, who claimed $3,500 in damages and asked the tribunal for an order to enforce the noise bylaw.
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This wasn’t the first time the Williamses took the issue up with a tribunal hearing.
On February 1, 2022, a tribunal member dismissed the Williamses’ claims. They, in turn, applied for judicial review, and it was determined that aspects of that 2022 decision were “patently unreasonable.”
So, the case came back to the tribunal.
On the other side, the strata maintains that the noise in the building was “reasonable” and that it handled the complaints appropriately.
The property in question is a two-level townhouse with walls shared with the neighbours on both floors.
In November 2019, the Williamses filed their first noise complaint. They lived in strata lot 29 and claimed that the children in lot 30 were running and jumping and that the adults “had not responded to direct requests to reduce noise.”
In response, the “adults” in lot 30 sent the strata manager a letter saying that the Williamses “regularly banged on the walls or their door at the slightest noise” while acknowledging that the kids made noise, albeit at a reasonable level.
Months later, in February 2020, at a strata council hearing, the Williamses made more complaints about noise, saying that the children in lot 30 were “running everywhere.”
While the strata agreed that the Williamses had a right to quiet enjoyment, it added that the family in lot 30 had a right to make a certain amount of noise.
Noise experts were going to be called in, but the Williamses then claimed that the noise had improved and that the lot 30 residents were reasonably quiet for the rest of 2020.
“Things changed early in 2021,” the tribunal decision reads.
New noise began, which was attributed to a loud TV occurring for some time every day.
The noise experts were brought in for real this time and they found that the Williamses had reason to feel disturbed by the sounds they were hearing.
One of the reports included “a very short burst of 47-decibel TV noise” recorded at 11:20 am. Other noises reported included bangs or thumps.
With this new evidence in mind, the tribunal determined that some of the noise in strata lot 29 was indeed unreasonable or “potentially disturbing.” It also determined that the strata had failed to enforce its bylaws adequately and could have merely asked the residents in lot 29 to turn the volume down with the threat of a fine.
While the Williamses weren’t awarded the $3,500 they initially claimed, the tribunal still awarded $500 in compensation for damages.
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