No Unreasonable Noise from Exit Door

In the case of Seif v. Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 1511, the owner alleged that excessive noise from a common element exit door (near her unit) caused a nuisance in contravention of Section 117(2) of the Condominium Act, 1998 and significantly impacted her quality of life. She sought an order requiring the condominium corporation to resolve the issue and requested costs.

TSCC 1511 denied that the noise was unreasonable and argued that the dispute related to repair and maintenance, falling outside the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

The Tribunal held that it had jurisdiction to decide the noise issue, but did not have jurisdiction to determine claims of negligence or contractor competence. The Tribunal considered the matter solely under Section 117(2).

The Tribunal dismissed the claim, finding that the noise was not unreasonable and that the condominium corporation had taken sufficient steps to address the issue. The Tribunal said:

While I agree with the Applicant that it is not quiet – one can hear the exit door close, that does not mean the noise heard is objectively unreasonable which is the test that must be met. What is heard on the video is a level of sound that is to be expected in the circumstances – residents using an exit door in the ordinary course of communal living, and at a level of sound no greater than her unit door causes. She and her neighbours have described it as bothersome which it may well be. It may be subjectively annoying, and she may well have become sensitized to its sound. The Applicant’s unit is closest to the exit door; some level of sound caused by its use is inevitable and ought to have been expected. The location of a unit as noted in Park v Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 2775 (“Park”) does not mean that the corporation is exempt from investigating a complaint or that an applicant is required to live with unreasonable noise, but I do not find that the noise is unreasonable based on the evidence before me.

So in summary, this case confirms the principle – expressed in a number of previous cases – that condominium residents are not entitled to absolute quiet and, in particular, must accept noises of the sort and volume that one would reasonably expect in the particular building.

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