Therefore, the elevator construction conducted according to law is a legal act, and other relevant owners shall not hinder or prevent the construction.
The court ordered the defendant to stop obstructing and hindering the installation and construction of the elevator.
It is a livelihood project for the convenience of the people.
The case is the first lawsuit in Hefei caused by the obstruction of the installation of elevators in existing houses.
After the construction unit enters the site for construction, the owner on the first floor believes that the installation of elevator affects the daylighting of the house, and there are potential safety hazards, hindering the elevator construction.
The installation of elevators plays a very important role in the elderly care and medical treatment of residents.
Xiao Jianhua comments: the transformation of old communities is related to the most direct and realistic interests of the people, and the addition of elevators is the most important transformation project.
The people’s court ruled in accordance with the law that the defendant should stop obstructing and hindering the installation and construction of elevators in the community, which is not only a law popularization for community residents, but also a strong support for community autonomy.
Source: People’s Court Daily..
After hearing the case, the court held that the owners whose exclusive parts accounted for two-thirds of the total area of the building and more than two-thirds of the total number of people had been consulted on the installation of elevators in the building involved in the case, the consent of more than three-quarters of the owners participating in the voting had been obtained, and the installation of elevators had been publicized and filed.
On January 6, the people’s court newspaper published the top ten cases of the people’s court in 2021.
The construction of additional elevators in this case has obtained the consent of most owners according to law, and has passed the publicity, filing and administrative examination and approval procedures.
After a dispute occurs, the community and people’s mediation organizations can intervene in mediation to solve such disputes, and the relevant subjects can also take the initiative to seek coordination or mediation.
In practice, it is often difficult for all owners to reach an agreement because of the difference of interests between owners of the same building or the same unit.
In the first instance of Baohe court and the second instance of Hefei intermediate people’s court, the “case of obstructing the installation of residential elevators” was elected.
The interest differences between low-level households and high-level households are the most typical.
In September 2020, an owner of Lvyuan community in Hefei signed a “procurement and installation contract for installing elevator equipment” with an engineering company.
After many mediation, the owners living on the third floor and above will sue the owners on the first floor.
If mediation fails, the parties may also bring a lawsuit in a people’s court.
After the judgment of the first instance, it has attracted great attention of the society and the media.
The civil code or property law (the property law shall apply if the dispute over the facts of the case occurs before the promulgation of the civil code) specifically stipulates the corresponding majority decision procedure, which provides specific rules for the settlement of such disputes.
With the advent of an aging society, many old communities have become aging communities.
During the construction, some owners (in this case, the owner of the first floor) still oppose and obstruct the construction on the grounds of affecting daylighting, which is obviously improper.
Through the trial of the case, it has played a positive role in guiding adjacent residents to rationally solve neighborhood disputes, cultivating grass-roots democracy and improving the level of grass-roots autonomy, and fully demonstrated the changes brought to individuals and society after the implementation of the civil code.
