If Apartment Noise Between Floors Falls Below Standard, Completion Approval Will Not Be Granted

Noise Measurement Between Floors at Mid-Construction Stage
Inspection Units Expanded from 2% to 5%
LH Public Housing to Fully Implement Floor Structure at Grade 1 Level

From now on, if newly constructed multi-family housing fails to meet noise standards, completion approval will not be granted. Inter-floor noise will also be measured during intermediate construction stages, and the number of inspected units will be expanded from the current 2% to 5%.

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is announcing the 'Measures to Resolve Noise Between Floors in Multi-family Housing' on the 11th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. On this day, measures were announced to prevent approval of completion if the noise standards between floors are not met. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

On the 11th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it will promote the "Inter-floor Noise Resolution Plan," which mandates corrective construction if inter-floor noise standards are not met and denies completion approval if these measures are not implemented.

This plan supplements the shortcomings of the "Post-Verification System for Inter-floor Noise" introduced by the government last year. Currently, even if noise standards are not met during the construction of multi-family housing, corrective measures are only recommended, making enforcement difficult. Even if the inter-floor noise standards are not met, construction companies can only be advised to perform corrective construction or pay damages. Because these measures are merely "recommendations," there is no means to enforce corrective construction, which has been pointed out as a limitation. Residents have had no choice but to respond through litigation. However, crimes related to inter-floor noise have been increasing every year. According to the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, the five major violent crimes including murder and assault related to inter-floor noise surged from 11 cases in 2016 to 110 cases in 2021.

Accordingly, the government has decided to deny completion approval if newly constructed multi-family housing fails to meet noise standards. Construction companies will be obligated to perform corrective construction until the noise standards are met, and completion will only be approved when the standards are satisfied.

Additionally, inter-floor noise will be measured during intermediate construction stages to strengthen quality control, and the number of inspected units will be increased from the current 2% to 5%.

Only in exceptional cases where residents are expected to suffer damages such as long-term move-in delays will corrective construction be allowed to be replaced by compensation, and inspection results will be disclosed to the public in cases of compensation.

For existing housing, ongoing support for floor soundproofing reinforcement (soundproof mats, floor soundproofing construction) will be strengthened.

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is announcing the "Measures to Resolve Noise Between Floors in Multi-family Housing" on the 11th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. On this day, measures were announced to prevent approval of completion if the noise standards between floors are not met. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The current loan program will be converted to run concurrently with financial subsidies, and the loan program will be rationally improved in terms of support amounts and interest rates through consultations with related ministries. Once consultations are completed, these measures will be reflected in the next budget after 2024.

Furthermore, LH public housing will fully implement floor structures at Grade 1 level. The floor thickness will be increased by 4cm from the current 21cm to 25cm, and through the use of high-performance cushioning materials and thorough construction management, from 2025, all public housing will apply an inter-floor noise standard at Grade 1 level, which is four times stricter than the current standard (from 49dB to 37dB or less).

To this end, Grade 1 level standards will be proactively applied starting with pilot complexes in 2024, and support will be provided to expand this to the private sector through technical verification such as the establishment of testing facilities.

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, addressed concerns about increased costs and construction delays, stating, "This measure is not about strengthening new standards but ensuring compliance with existing standards, so construction companies already adhering to the standards will not bear additional burdens," and added, "From now on, construction companies will not be allowed to pass on inconveniences caused by poor quality control to the public."

He continued, "In the future, inter-floor noise blocking technology will determine the value of multi-family housing," emphasizing, "The government and companies will make every effort together to eradicate inter-floor noise."