Q:I live in an apartment building in Vancouver. About 2 months ago we had a small fire on the rooftop patio of the penthouse suite due to the tenant not fully extinguishing a cigarette. Now some construction work by roofers has been going on for the last couple weeks, which, of course, is necessary. What is annoying, though, is that we tenants have never received any note by the management when these works are scheduled. The repair works are tremendously noisy and basically make it impossible for us to work or enjoy our time at home, so we think the least the management can do is give us all due notice of the scheduled times. Sometimes the workers start as early as 7:30 in the morning. One day they work, the next two days they don't. Nobody knows when. I have my own company and mainly work from home, sometimes receive client visits, often I have to work late and sleep until 9 because I have clients overseas. I have repeatedly asked the landlord to let us know when the works are scheduled so that we can schedule our lives, sleep and work accordingly, but nothing has happened. We get surprised and by construction noise in the house again and again, sometimes in the very early morning hours. Questions: 1) Are there any legally binding peace times for apartment buildings? What are they, and do construction workers have to follow them? 2) Aren't tenants entitled to being informed of scheduled constrution works? 3) What is your advice?
A:
I advise you to write your landlord a formal letter advising him of what you object to, why, how you think the issue should be resolved, and by when. Your letter should also advise the landlord that if the situation can't be resolved quickly and amicably, then you are contemplating filing a claim in arbitration with the Residential Tenancy Branch for damages due to loss of quiet enjoyment.
