Strata owners given false information on timber or tiled floors – which can lead to them having to rip up or re-carpet their new floors – are being urged to report flooring companies to NSW Fair Trading.
According to reports, sales people routinely assure potential customers that a hard surface floor will be OK because the noise insulation complies with Building Standards Australia codes.
Even worse, owners are frequently told that their Owners Corporations can’t prevent the installation of a hard floor. Neither of these statements is true, as many owners discover when they fall foul of their building’s by-laws. And both, says Fair Trading, may well be deceptive conduct under the law.
“Vendors of flooring are bound by the same general laws on misleading and deceptive conduct as are all traders,” said a spokesman from Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts’ office.
“Assertions about particular floors being compliant with noise standards need to be made on a reasonable basis, and people should feel free to refer traders to us that they believe are engaging in misleading conduct.”
Any deliberate deception is a crime with two victims: the owner who buys the floor and may have to rip it up or re-carpet when it’s found to be too noisy; and the neighbour – usually downstairs – who has to endure the noise until the problem is resolved.
By-laws vary from strata building to building. Some specify the insulation that must be laid, some ban hard floors completely and others rely on the catch-all by-law protecting other residents’ ‘peaceful enjoyment’ of their home.
Even when apartment owners are aware that there’s an issue with their by-laws, the only ‘experts’ they encounter are the salespeople, many of whom either don’t know the facts or deliberately misrepresent them.
“Intrusive floor noise is a common cause of dispute in strata schemes,” said the Fair Trading spokesman. “As part of the review of strata laws, the Government is looking seriously at this issue with a view to strengthening the current reporting and approval requirements.”
Fair Trading aren’t likely to jump on every flooring sales person who’s accused of being verbally misleading but if there is a pattern of complaints you can bet they’ll be having a strong word, at least. If the sellers have given you a leaflet containing deceptive advice, then you could probably take legal action if you’ve bought a floor and had to take it up again.
Most states definitions of deceptive or misleading conduct are very similar but you’ll find links to factsheets from the various states and territories HERE. And there are many, many posts – 150, no less – about the topic of hard floors, noise and what you can do about them HERE on the Flat Chat Forum.