09/11/2023 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 84 published on 01/12/2023
Unreasonable noise coming from activities in gym. Condominium corporation failed to reasonably investigate.
The Applicants were owners living on the condominium’s fifth floor. They complained about noise (free weights dropping on the floor) coming from the gym directly above them.
The Tribunal found that:
- The dropping of weights in the gym caused noise and vibration that constituted a nuisance, annoyance or disruption within the meaning of s. 117(2)(a) and (b) of Condominium Act.
- TSCC 2745 permitted the activity and did not take reasonable steps to address the nuisance, annoyance or disruption.
The Tribunal said:
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, TSCC 2745 does not seem to have done any investigation of its own into the noise and vibration issues. It relied on the work done by the builder in 2020 and simply refuted the complaints made by the unit owners. There was no evidence put before me that TSCC 2745 sent anyone to personally attend the units to determine the extent of the noise and vibrations and whether any of the efforts it has made has sufficiently remedied the noise and vibration coming from the gym. Nor did TSCC 2745 take any steps after 2020 to investigate the problem to determine why the noise of the free weights was being transmitted to the units below. A reasonable course of action would have been to investigate the noise, explore possible solutions, consider whether those solutions were viable, and implement those that were.
The Tribunal ordered that the use of free weights in the gym would be restricted to the hours of 8 am to 9 pm to ensure compliance with s. 117(2) of the Act.
Gamat et al. v. Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 2745, 2023 ONCAT 169