Community-Scheme Living has many advantages for instance, the sharing of common expenses (eg. Security, insurance, maintenance) but a major cause of disharmony is having to live with noise created from others living in close proximity.

In Sectional Title Schemes the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act provides provisions in terms of the Prescribed Rules:

Rule 7 deals with how occupiers and visitors in schemes should behave.
Rule 7 (1) states that an owner or occupier of a section must not create noise likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of another person in the scheme.
Rule 7 (3) requires the owner or occupier of a section to take reasonable steps to ensure that their visitors do not behave in a way likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of another person in the scheme.

As can be seen, these prescribed rules are very basic and must be enhanced or added to when a scheme’s rules are reviewed by the members.

In Full-Title Community schemes, rules would also be implemented by the members themselves to regulate or at least manage noise.

There are different types of noise that persons residing in Community Schemes may experience:

Generators

With loadshedding still a regular feature in our Country, the noise generated by generators is bound to make people hot under the collar, especially if the generator is started on a Public Holiday or on a Sunday morning when people want to lie in a bit longer than usual.

A friend of mine complained about his neighbours that started their generator at 05:00 on Good Friday as they were preparing to go to church for an early prayer session. My friend complained bitterly over their shared wall about being awoken so early and for the neighbours to be a little more considerate, just to get the response that the rules allow for generators to be switched on from 05:00 and the additional chirp of :”SHARRAP – ons gaan kerk toe!

Noise from pets

The biggest issue usually relates to barking dogs. My family and I had the unenviable privilege of living next to 2 little daschunds for a period of 6 months. These 2 were undoubtedly trying to make the shortlist for the Guinness World Records for non-stop barking!

Where a resident has been informed that a dog is causing a nuisance, and the situation does not improve, the trustees may demand that the owner has the dog removed from the unit, should the rules make provision for it.

Domestic disputes

Regrettably, domestic disputes are becoming a very serious issue that our Estate Managers are often confronted with and are difficult to control or stop, especially when an argument between couples become violent. Quite often, the best solution is to call the police or the security company, should there be one employed by the scheme.

Parties

Ideally, the rules of a scheme should clearly indicate the times in which parties may take place and also that the neighbours have been notified of the time, date and possible duration of a party.

Renovations

Renovations are another cause for discontent, especially when there is a lot of chopping and drilling involved. The rules should specify the time-frames for when renovations may take place.

Again, neighbours should be considerate of one another and should talk to one another.

In the famous words of Bob Gauld (an erstwhile “guru” in Sectional Title: “Neighbours should talk to neighbours. When communication fails, so does neighbourliness and apathy and friction will follow.”