The National Assembly is debating a bill to strengthen the responsibility of builders and developers for inter-floor noise, an issue that has been intensifying conflicts among residents of apartments (multiunit housing). The aim is to minimize inter-floor noise from the construction stage to prevent various disputes in advance.
If the performance test standards for inter-floor noise are not met before the inspection for the use of dwellings, supplementary construction will be mandated until the standards are met, and the law will explicitly allow the state, local governments, and public institutions to provide administrative, fiscal, and tax support to reduce inter-floor noise. This is a measure to reduce inter-floor noise, which has been triggering serious crimes such as murder and arson.
According to the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly on the 24th, three amendments to the Dwellings Act related to reducing inter-floor noise have been introduced since December last year and are being discussed in a subcommittee of the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee. On Dec. 19 last year, 10 lawmakers including Kwon Young-jin of the People Power Party introduced a Dwellings Act amendment, and on the 2nd of this month, 10 lawmakers including Moon Jin-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea introduced a separate amendment. On the 19th, 12 lawmakers including Bok Gi-wang of the Democratic Party also proposed an amendment.
Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties commonly included in the amendments a proposal to strengthen performance tests conducted before approving the use of multiunit housing. Under the current "post-verification system for inter-floor noise performance," for multiunit housing with 30 or more households, a government-designated body measures inter-floor noise before use approval, and if the noise exceeds the Grade 4 threshold of 49 dB (decibels), the approving authority for use (local government) may recommend that the project entity (developer) carry out supplementary construction or compensate for damages. The amendments propose to make the currently recommended supplementary construction mandatory. If the standard is not met, supplementary construction must continue until the threshold is satisfied. The bill proposed by Moon and others also includes a measure requiring the construction company to submit a supplementary construction plan if the inspection standards are still not met even after at least two rounds of supplementary work.
If a project fails the performance test, requiring supplementary construction to continue until it meets the threshold could also delay approval for use (completion). This means that approval for use will not be granted for apartments whose inter-floor noise exceeds the standard. Earlier, in December 2023, under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the government announced a "plan to resolve inter-floor noise," and the National Assembly is now seeking to codify it.
The bill spearheaded by lawmaker Bok Gi-wang also includes a provision requiring the state, local governments, and public institutions to be able to provide administrative, fiscal, and tax support to reduce inter-floor noise. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has run a program that lends installation costs interest-free to low-income households when installing mats to reduce inter-floor noise. The idea is to expand such programs and stipulate in law the basis for fiscal support to reduce inter-floor noise. A National Assembly official said, "In consultation with the government, we introduced a bill that includes budget support."
Kim Young-ah, head of the Housing Construction Supply Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Lawmakers from both parties agree that social conflict caused by inter-floor noise is serious and that it needs to be improved," adding, "For the government to carry out related projects to reduce inter-floor noise, budget support is also necessary, so we are proceeding with related discussions with the National Assembly."
The reason the National Assembly and the government are focusing on reducing inter-floor noise is that serious crimes related to it are increasing.
According to the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), the five major serious crimes related to inter-floor noise, such as murder and assault, increased tenfold from 11 cases in 2016 to 110 cases in 2021. Crimes related to inter-floor noise have continued to occur recently. Last month, the Uijeongbu District Court sentenced a man in his 40s in Baekseok-eup, Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, to 20 years in prison for killing a neighbor over inter-floor noise. Also, on Apr. 21, an arson fire at a 21st-floor apartment in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak District, Seoul, was set by a downstairs suspect who had been in conflict with the upstairs neighbor over inter-floor noise.
Lee Chang-mu, a professor in the Department of Architecture at Hanyang University, said, "As inter-floor noise is becoming a social problem, strengthening the standards for inter-floor noise within a reasonable range is a necessary measure," adding, "However, a shortage in the supply of dwellings is also an issue, so we should ensure that the completion of dwellings under supply is not excessively delayed, leading to an increase in expense and harm to residents and construction companies."