Neighbors’ feud lands in court

Two feuding neighbors in Jing'an district have been ordered to remove the illicit facilities they separately installed in their building, the local court said Thursday.

The two neighbors, surnamed Jian and Sun, sued each other in December over the facilities the other installed in the building, according to a press release from Jing'an District People's Court.

Each man resided his own luxury 300-square-meter apartment in a building on Wulumuqi Road North, the court said.

Jian, who lived on the top floor, had transformed the building's public roof into a private garden with potted plants, the court said. To protect his property, he installed a locked door at the entrance to the roof.

Sun, who occupied the floor below, had installed a commercial air conditioning unit on the roof over his apartment, which sat outside Jian's bedroom window, the court said.

Jian complained that the noise from the machine disturbed him. In his lawsuit, he demanded that Sun remove the machine because it's against regulations to install a commercial air conditioner in a residential building.

In Sun's lawsuit, he demanded Jian remove the door to the roof on the grounds it violated safety regulations. He also wanted Jian to move his stuff off the roof.

In response, Jian argued that the door was there when he bought the apartment.

In court, Sun argued that the air conditioner wasn't that noisy because he didn't run it at full power.

The court ruled that Jian needed to remove the door and clear the roof for safety reasons. It ordered Sun to remove the air conditioner because it violated national building standards.