Restaurant with noisy fan below apartment - what can we do?

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dublingirl1

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Bought an apartment 5 months ago. At the time the ground floor of the building was set aside for a restaurant - but there was no restaurant there and the place was still a building site. Since then the place has been turned around and the owners have borken through an outside wall to place an exractor fan. The problem is the fan is directly under our bedroom window and you can hear the fan in all the rooms in the apartment, I presume the reason being is that it is directly under our bedroom floor in the restaurant below.
We have a problem with the noise - legally do we have a foot to stand on if we were to approach the ownsers in the restaurant in relation to the noise? The fan was not there when we bought the place?
 
Re: Do we have a foot to stand on..

Did you ask to see the plans for the restaurant? If the fan was shown on the plans, then you probably have no case.
 
Re: Do we have a foot to stand on..

I presume that there is a management company in place (of which, as an apartment owner, you are probably a member/shareholder)? Can you contact them and raise the issue with them? Have you asked your solicitor for advice?
 
Re: Do we have a foot to stand on..

Seagull said:
Did you ask to see the plans for the restaurant? If the fan was shown on the plans, then you probably have no case.
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I would have thought that the restauarant would still have to comply with any regulations regarding noise regardless of what was in the plans?
 
Re: Do we have a foot to stand on..

Many people address issues such as noise/rubbish from certain commercial premises through the licensing of same. So if the restaurant underneath you has to apply for a special restaurant licence through the courts you have a right to object to the granting of same grounded on the noise issue. Then you can address the court in relation to the issue and your concerns and quite often ( as long as you have a good ground) the court will make the granting of the licence subject to your concerns being addressed. Other wise as other posters have said you can go to the council under the noise pollution avenue. Of course, first off, you should go to the owner of the restaurant and allow them the opportunity to address the matter. If they are reasonable they will not want to annoy potential customers and if they have an alternative they should use same. I would play up your custom, if you do frequent the establishment.
 
To be honest I wouldnt approach this from the 'licencing' side, I would approach it from the 'nuisance' side.

First of all you need to send written correspondance to the owner / leasee of the restaurant outlining your issue, and how the noiseis affecting you and your partner, etc. CC your management company. See how it goes, if no joy approach it from the nuisance side.

A nuisance is anything which can be described as a 'smell, bell or a yell' in this case its a 'bell' or a noise which is permanent and reoccurring.

This is what I would do. Let us know how you get on
 
First of all you need to send written correspondance to the owner / leasee of the restaurant outlining your issue, and how the noiseis affecting you and your partner, etc. CC your management company. See how it goes, if no joy approach it from the nuisance side.
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What do you mean by 'approach it from the nuisance side' ? Do you mean that the OP should take an action in tort against the restaurant? Because this will be much more difficult, not to mention expensive, than approaching it from a licensing side.
 
Not necessarily court but with regard to the initial contact with the Restaurant owner.

Rather than quoting licencing criteria, to mention this is literally a nuisance in their lives and impinging on their enjoyment of the property / their home.
 
Thing is, from a very practical point of view, the cheapest and most effective way for the OP to get something done is to potentially object to the granting of a licence. Obviously if the restaurant holder is approached first and is amenable, then it doesnt really matter what 'heading' you approach them under, but frankly, if the restaurant holder isn't amenable, then they are going to be advised fairly quickly that for the OP to take an action in tort against them is going to mean ten or twenty thousand in legal costs in the circuit court. For the OP to make an objection on their licence means making a written objection prior to and then an appearance at the district court- which means very little legal fees, even if they require a solicitor at all.
 
When planning permission has been granted for a mixed use development, the planning officer would/should normally attach conditions to prevent nuisance being caused to residents. In the case of a restaurant there may be conditions on what type of extraction system can be fitted and/or the maximum noise level that such a system may emit. I would recommend having a look at the planning file, which may be available online if you are in the Dublin City Council area.

If no conditions have been attached, as suggested before, I would speak to the owner of the restaurant. They may be unaware that they are causing a problem. Give them a reasonable period of time to come up with a solution to the problem, a week should be enough. Obviously implementing the solution may take longer but at least you will know that they are keen to resolve the matter.

If they are unwilling to sort the problem out you have recourse under the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992, section 108 applies. An application can be made to the District Court for an order to control the noise. You don't need a solicitor to do this and it costs about 40 euro.

The approach of local authorities to noise control varies across the country. Some local authorities have Environmental Health Departments involved in noise control, others will just refer you to s.108 of the EPA Act '92. Dublin City Council have a Noise Control Unit which will investigate the matter on your behalf.
 
If I may make a suggestion following on from Beetons comprehensive post. should you need to go down the road of approaching the District Court with regard to the noise, please send me a PM and if you are in the greater Dublin area I would be more than happy to come out and take a noise reading for you to measure the decible levels being emitted. This may strengthen the case you have rather than just saying its 'noisy'. New Regulations came out late last year governing noise levels, and while they refer to a workplace, it would be useful to quote these in your application.

Best of luck with it all and keep us posted as to how you get on.
 
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