A BC strata was involved in a costly legal fight after one of its homeowners claimed that gym noise from two floors up caused her emotional distress.
Dana Metcalfe owns the strata lot in question and told the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal that noise from the gym has been causing her home to lose the enjoyment of her home since late 2021.
She claimed that the strata didn’t adequately investigate the complaints or take action to mitigate the noise. She asked the tribunal for $4,175.44 to compensate her and an order for the strata to install soundproof flooring.
In response, the strata said it did “reasonably” investigate the complaints and made “objective determinations.”
The strata asked the tribunal to dismiss the case.
In 2023, the strata revised some bylaws related to noise. One amendment said that common property, including a gym, can’t be used in a way that causes disturbance, unreasonable noise, or unreasonable interference with another person’s use of their unit.
The tribunal interpreted this by saying that the bylaw means “the strata cannot allow use of the gym in a way that makes noise in a strata lot that an ordinary person would consider intolerable.”
Both parties in the case also provided a copy of the gym rules, which tell gym users to be respectful and mindful and not to drop weights. Hours for the gym are 6 am to 11 pm.
Metcalfe said that the noise from the gym became noticeable after pandemic restrictions were lifted. Her first complaint was in October 2021. In February 2022, she forwarded a petition to the strata signed by four other residents on her floor.
Throughout 2022, Metcalfe communicated with the strata several times, with similar complaints about weights being dropped noisily. In October 2022, the strata added new signs to the gym area, asking users to be more courteous around noise. Things didn’t change for Metcalfe, though.
In November 2022, Metcalfe attended a strata council meeting to discuss her complaints further. The strata decided to remove free weights from the gym for a couple of weeks to determine if that was where the noise was coming from.
She didn’t report any further noise complaints until the free weights returned in December.
The strata then decided to look into gym mats to mitigate the noise but ultimately decided mats worth $5,600 weren’t in the budget for the year.
Despite Metcalfe’s evidence, the strata determined that she didn’t prove that the noise was intolerable. However, it determined that the strata’s response to her complaints was unreasonable and significantly unfair.
Metcalfe was awarded $1,196.72, including $1,000 in damages and the rest in CRT fees.
You can read the entire decision here.