Prop up a few metal poles under the eaves of your house and set up a canopy to keep out the rain and dry clothes ......Many people are no strangers to the addition of canopies to residents in the community, and some residents have even transformed the canopies built on the terraces into their own "sun rooms".
For other neighbors, though, these canopies can have a big impact on their lives. The first is noise pollution, every time it rains, the canopy emits a loud "tick-tock" sound, making it difficult to sleep; Secondly, the canopy may affect the lighting of the adjacent house, and even cause the neighbor's room to become a "dark room". It is understood that there are many neighborhood disputes caused by residents building canopies, and canopies are often "easy to build and difficult to dismantle", and once they are completed and become an "established fact", it becomes difficult to dismantle them. What do property companies and lawyers think about this? The reporter recently paid a visit.
The reporter saw in a community that the residents had installed all kinds of canopies.
The neighbor's house has a canopy
Rainy days are like "artillery battles" and sunny days affect lighting
Recently, Ms. Wang, a resident of a community in Haizhu District, reported to reporters that her downstairs neighbor built a canopy, which not only has potential safety hazards, but also rings non-stop on rainy days, making people unable to rest. "When it rains, the rain falls on it, and the sound is as loud as a cannonball, which makes us upset, and it is difficult to sleep all night, especially when there are elderly people in our family, who are already nervous breakdowns. The reporter saw in a passage provided by Ms. Wang that the rain dripped on the canopy downstairs on a rainy day, and she could hear a loud sound even if she closed the window when she stood in the room.
For residents on the same floor, the canopy installed by the next-door neighbor also affected their lives. A resident of the south side of the building pointed to the neighbor's color steel canopy and told reporters that the canopy was built two years ago, when the family went out to play during the long vacation, and when they returned home, they found that the canopy of the neighbor's house next door had been built, and this canopy blocked the lighting of their own house. "Because of the large size of the canopy, my room used to be a sun room, but now even during the day, the room is not very bright, and I often need to turn on the lights. He told reporters that the next-door neighbor said that the installation of the canopy was to avoid leakage on the roof in the rain, but now it has seriously affected the life of his family, and there is no solution after negotiation between the two parties.
The canopy is "easy to build and difficult to dismantle".
The property is difficult to mediate, and the affected neighbors can only endure it
The reporter visited Ms. Wang's community and found that there are still many households who have built canopies, and these canopies are of various types and colors, which does have an impact on the overall landscape of the community. A resident of Building 11 in the community introduced that because of the installation of a canopy downstairs, the first thing she saw when she opened the window every day was this canopy. Previously, the resident had also taken the initiative to communicate with the owner downstairs, but the other party did not mean to remove the canopy.
Kang Ping, the person in charge of property management in the community, told reporters that the phenomenon of residents adding canopies is more common, and some canopies are built by old residents before new residents buy houses, which is a historical problem; The new canopies were added by some residents to increase the usable area of their homes or to prevent objects from being thrown from the upper floors.
However, because the residents add the canopy has a certain concealment, the property management company is usually not notified before the addition, so it is difficult for the property management company to carry out supervision, once the canopy is completed, the property management company has no law enforcement power, usually can only organize mediation between residents, but in most cases mediation is not possible. "A lot of times canopies are really easy to build and difficult to dismantle. We told the affected residents that in the end, they had no choice but to sue in court. But if there is a lawsuit between neighbors for this, everyone will bow their heads and not look up in the future, which will inevitably be a little embarrassing, and the lawsuit may take several months, and many times they are not willing to take this road until they have to. In fact, not many households end up taking the legal route, and many people can only endure it all the time. Kangping said.
The reporter saw that residents in a community expanded the canopy to cover the entire terrace.
The terrace was converted into a "room"?
Some residents have expanded their canopies to turn their terraces into "sun rooms" and "utility rooms".
In the investigation, the reporter also found that some residents with terraces on the lower floors directly transformed the canopies originally built on the terraces into "sun rooms" or private balconies.
On the 3rd floor, the owner built a canopy to turn the terrace into a house, which can be used to dry clothes or pile up sundries. Rainwater or air conditioner water dripping on the canopy is particularly loud and has a great impact on the lives of the surrounding neighbors. In another community, Mr. Liu, a resident, pointed to the canopy built by his neighbor on the third floor.
Mr. Liu said that a few years ago, the resident rebuilt the canopy and turned almost the entire terrace into a balcony. The reporter saw that this terrace is about 20 square meters, and it is almost no different from a house after being covered with a canopy. It was not until the neighbor's canopy on the third floor was built that the rainwater drips on the canopy and caused a lot of noise on the canopy, that he found that the resident had expanded the area of the canopy and turned the canopy into a "sun room".
Mr. Liu said that the large canopy downstairs not only brings noise pollution to the neighbors, but also often has garbage falling on it. In addition, the addition of a canopy also affected the lighting of his room. "Originally, I could still see the scenery downstairs, but after the canopy was built, I could only see the canopy, and the view of the room was also blocked. ”
Other residents who live on the same floor as Mr. Liu also said that the sound of rainwater dripping on the canopy on the third floor is really disturbing, and even if the windows are closed, they can hear the sound of "ticking", which is very disturbing to rest at night.
On a residential building opposite the community, the reporter saw a resident also cover the entire terrace with a canopy, make a "big room", and even install air conditioning outside.
Each has its own suffering:
Residents on the lower floors are worried about throwing objects from high altitudes, and the property wants to manage it, but it is often "cut first and then played".
Why are so many residents keen to add canopies? The reporter visited a number of communities in the city and found that some low-rise residents were trying to prevent upstairs residents from throwing objects from high altitudes. Nowadays, high-altitude throwing and falling objects are one of the potential safety hazards in the lives of the owners of each community, and the management and guidance of the community property company is also facing challenges. Some residents also built canopies to prevent leakage from their windows on rainy days. In addition, there are some households who simply want to increase the usable area of the house.
In a community on Wende North Road, many residents on the first floor have built canopies outside their houses, and one of them said that this move is to prevent the risk of throwing objects and falling objects from high altitudes. "Building a canopy is also a painstaking task, in the past, when it rained, water would flow into the house, and the residents upstairs were uncivilized and liked to throw things downstairs, so we had to build a canopy. And the whole community is not just us, many residents have added canopies. ”
According to Miss Liang, the person in charge of property management in the community, many times, the residents who add canopies are "cut first and then played", and some even choose to transport building materials to their homes at night, or even do not take the elevator, just to avoid the monitoring of property personnel. And these canopy addition work is usually a "blitzkrieg" - the various building materials required have basically been formed, only need to be pulled to the home for welding operations, if it is fast, it will be installed within half a day, once the project is completed to form an "established fact", and then it is very difficult to dismantle it, and the relevant residents will take various reasons to prevaricate and refuse to demolish. At this time, the property management company will organize mediation between the owners of both parties. "Historically, once a tenant's canopy has been built, it has been difficult to mediate successfully. One party insisted on demolishing it, while the other party insisted on not demolishing it. In this case, we will advise residents to report the situation to the community neighborhood committee, which will verify on the spot, and if it is an illegal building, the relevant functional departments of the street will carry out law enforcement to demolish the illegal building. Residents can also go through legal means, and the court will order the parties to remove the canopy. ”
Lawyer reminds
Before installing a canopy, you must negotiate with your neighbors, otherwise the defendant is likely to lose the case in court
Tang Hongju, a lawyer at Guangdong Fahai Law Firm, said that disputes between neighbors over the construction of canopies are disputes over neighboring rights, which are very common, and he has participated in the mediation of such disputes many times, and there are not a few cases where mediation is unsuccessful and the dispute is finally resolved through court litigation.
For example, in a case he participated in before, Mr. Li, who lived on the second floor, was worried about throwing objects from high altitudes upstairs, and without consulting with his upstairs neighbor, Ms. Wu, built a sunshade canopy on the open-air platform of his house. Ms. Wu communicated with him several times to no avail, and finally had to take Mr. Li to court. The court held that the awning erected on the open-air platform did not have the corresponding approval procedures, and that it exceeded the original wall space and extended under the windows of the neighbor's house, which would indeed produce noise when it rained or when objects fell, and it was easy to accumulate garbage, which would affect the perception, and there were certain potential safety hazards, and Mr. Li should bear the responsibility for eliminating the damage that the awning might cause to the adjacent houses. Therefore, the Court ordered Mr. Li to remove the awning.
Residents who install rain shelters and drying racks without proper reasons and not out of the premise of daily necessities infringe upon the common interests of the owners and bring trouble to the lives of their neighbors, and shall bear the corresponding tort liability in accordance with the law. In practice, most cases require the demolition of the illegal addition of canopies. Therefore, Tang Hongju suggested that residents must fully negotiate with their neighbors before adding canopies, and obtain the consent of their neighbors before making additions, otherwise it is easy to cause disputes.
Tang Hongju said that there are many disputes arising from the construction of canopies, and in fact, most of these disputes are recommended to be resolved through mediation. For example, the party that adds the canopy adjusts the location and size of the canopy to minimize the impact on neighbors, and is also responsible for the health and safety of the canopy, regularly cleaning up the garbage accumulated on the canopy, and ensuring the safety of the project.
Tang Hongju also said that many residents think that "they have the final say on the house they buy with their own money", so they privately expand the canopy to expand the use of housing space. As everyone knows, the construction of canopies without approval is an illegal building, once the neighbor complains to the urban management department or sues the court, if it is verified that it is an illegal building, the relevant department will order the residents involved to demolish it. "In fact, the law stipulates the identification and handling of illegal buildings. According to the Urban and Rural Planning Law of the People's Republic of China, illegal construction refers to the construction of buildings, structures, roads, pipelines and other projects that have not been obtained or have been constructed in violation of the construction project planning permit. Unauthorized construction of rain shelters and other illegal buildings is also an illegal building, of course, the punishment of illegal buildings in different areas has different discretions. ”
Text, picture: Guangzhou**Quan**Reporter Xiao Huanhuan Intern Huang Mingyu.