When Will The Racket End? Drilling Into Beijing Construction Law

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A couple of months ago, I answered a knock at the door to find a young Chinese couple standing in the doorway of my apartment. “Hello! We’re your new neighbors” the man said, indicating to the recently vacated apartment down the hall. “We’re going to be doing renovation works soon. Please sign this paper to say that we’ve informed you.” I took the sheet of paper, but hesitated, wondering if by signing it I would be giving the couple permission to make a din at all hours, and condemn us to months and months of ear-splitting construction noise.

Seeing my hesitation, the young woman pointed to the sheet, adding “If there are any problems, please call us, here is our phone number”. Rather relieved, I jotted down her number, signed the sheet, and waved them off.

Work has since begun in earnest. The hallway is dusty and grimy and filled with workers rolling wheelbarrows of rubble back and forth to the elevator, which now looks significantly worse for wear. The walls shake and seem on the brink of collapse as workers drill and hammer and bang around. Some days, the drilling has been almost constant, making my husband and I wonder what there could possibly be left to drill. However, protective material has been laid on the common areas, the floor is mopped in a (mostly unsuccessful) effort keep the dust down, and the workers we encounter are polite. Things could definitely be worse.

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But… we are not thrilled about the fact that our apartment is now uninhabitable for 10 hours every weekday, and have become much more interested in the regulations about renovating Beijing apartments. Is it ok to start ear-splitting drilling at 8.30 am? At what time in the evening must the din cease? Weekends are off-limits, surely?

Here’s what I found: Beijing actually has rather strict regulations on the construction and renovation of residential buildings. According to real estate website Zhishifang, construction is limited to 8 hours per working day, between 8 am to 6 pm, with a 2-hour break between 12 pm and 2 pm for lunch. (We were not able to locate the specific law relating to this regulation online, although many websites incorrectly cite Article 45 of the Draft Measures of the Environmental Noise Pollution Law.)

The site also states that only noise-free construction can be carried out on the ‘rest days’ of Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, although they do not state exactly what constitutes ‘noise-free’.

If you hear noise construction outside the specified times, it is recommended that you complain to the property management department, or failing that, call the police at 110. Of course, if the property owner has already gone to the trouble of giving you their personal contact information, as in our case, talking to them directly may be the best option.

I hope that whoever is coordinating the works in our corridor continues to be courteous, and we never have a need to complain, but if I hear a drill firing up at 6.10 pm on a weekday, I’ll know what to do.

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Photos: Unsplash, Pexels 

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