Consumers encounter ＂toxic＂ rental housing experts： pollution should be reduced from the source
Our reporter Wen Wen Intern Cheng Weijia
The problem of excessive formaldehyde in rental houses has recently aroused social concern. Chain Home Group’s long-term rental apartment service provider "freely" announced that all the first-time rental houses in 9 cities across the country have been removed from the shelves since September 1, and will not be put on the shelves until the professional certification bodies have passed the inspection. This is also a response to many complaints about air quality problems in long-term rental houses.
Why do long-term rental houses have excessive indoor formaldehyde? How to avoid indoor air pollution when decorating houses? The reporter conducted an interview a few days ago.
Renting a house encounters "formaldehyde exceeding the standard"
I thought the online news was far away from me, but I didn’t expect that in just one month, two students of the reporter both encountered air pollution problems in the process of renting a house.
Xiao Guo, a graduate student from Shanghai who came to Beijing, just solved the problem of finding a job, but experienced a disturbing storm of excessive formaldehyde in renting a house.
A few days after staying in the rented house, Xiao Guo felt a sore throat and headache, and his eyes were dry and even a little unclear. Xiao Guo bought a test paper online for testing, and found that formaldehyde in indoor air exceeded the standard by more than 12 times, even exceeding the extreme value that can be measured by test paper.
Xiao Guo further investigated and found that the pollution source should be the newly changed furniture provided by the intermediary. In desperation, she had to find a rental agent, arguing that she hoped to replace the furniture and compensate for physical damage.
However, the intermediary company refused to replace the furniture, claiming that it can withdraw the rent, but it is considered that the renter has breached the contract and needs to pay the corresponding liquidated damages. On the one hand, it is a health hazard, on the other hand, the house you rent can’t live, and you can’t defend your rights. You can’t find a house for a while when you change rooms. Guo is very embarrassed and can only stay at a friend’s house temporarily.
Xiao Guo’s experience is not unique in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.
Xiao Dong, another classmate of the reporter, works for a famous large Internet company in Beijing. In order to facilitate commuting, she chose to rent near the company and found a "free" rental house.
Due to the tight housing of the "Free" platform, Xiao Dong quickly rented the house before he had time to look at it carefully. However, after checking in, I found that the smell in the room was very strong, and I would feel dizzy after sleeping for one night in the morning. After testing confirmed that the indoor air formaldehyde exceeded the standard, the "Free" platform provided free rent change. However, due to the shortage of housing near the company, there is no suitable house replacement for the time being, and Xiaodong can only continue to rent in a house with excessive formaldehyde.
Now Xiao Dong has bought an air purifier in in addition to formaldehyde from his own pocket. "The effect is like that, and it is a peace of mind."
Recently, the number of complaints about indoor air pollution in long-term rental houses such as "Free" has increased. In this regard, many tenants feel helpless and are in a dilemma.
Lack of supervision and system makes it difficult to protect the rights of air pollution in long-term rental houses.
Reducing the cost of decoration and shortening the time from the completion of decoration to the opening of rent make the indoor air pollution problems of long-term rental houses frequent.
As a commercial operation, long-term rental apartments and long-term rental houses must consider their costs and profits. According to industry sources, the decoration standard of ordinary long-term rental apartments is not too high, and in some second-tier cities, it is often less than 500 yuan/square meter. And the average family decoration cost is at least 700 yuan ~800 yuan per square meter. In addition, the decoration time is as short as possible, often controlled within one month. In the mode of "low" and "fast", the indoor air quality of houses is not optimistic.
Ordinary home improvement rooms will be ventilated and "aired" for 3 to 6 months after renovation, so that harmful gases such as indoor formaldehyde can be fully volatilized. However, in order to pursue economic benefits, many apartment intermediaries rent out their houses immediately after renovation. Even an apartment manager said, "In order to control costs, renovated houses are usually placed for up to 3 days, and then listed for rent."
At the cusp of public opinion unanimously demanding that the rental platform take measures, "Freedom" promised in the announcement that tenants who stayed in "Freedom" for the first time after June 1, 2018 can apply for free air quality testing if they have doubts about indoor air quality. If there is a problem that the air quality of the house exceeds the standard, one of three options can be provided, including unconditional rent withdrawal and rent change; Provide free air quality control, and check in after passing the inspection; Or provide a brand air purifier for free use for 90 days.
The effect of "freely" solving problems remains to be seen. However, there are still no relevant measures for more long-term rental intermediary platforms.
For most tenants, they are in the downstream of housing lease and are vulnerable groups; More importantly, in the current laws and regulations, there are no clear constraints and regulations on the indoor air quality of rented houses, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of tenants’ rights protection.
At present, China’s indoor air testing is based on the Indoor Air Quality Standard promulgated and implemented in 2002 and the Code for Indoor Environmental Pollution Control of Civil Construction Projects implemented in 2013. In the Indoor Air Quality Standard, the indoor formaldehyde standard is 0.1 mg/m3 (one-hour average), but this standard is not mandatory.
In some cities, there is no design to restrict the air quality of rental housing decoration environment, and the formaldehyde treatment of some intermediary companies is still blank.
Many tenants believe that simply returning the room unconditionally cannot finally solve the problem. "My health has been hurt, the time and energy spent in the coordination process, and the mental anxiety suffered by the unreasonable treatment of the rental platform. Who will bear these?"
"If the formaldehyde in the rental house exceeds the standard, the intermediary company or landlord should bear the medical expenses or other financial compensation for the tenant." Xiao Guo told reporters like this.
Suspected that the formaldehyde in rented houses exceeded the standard.
Evidence should be obtained in time and a third party should be invited to identify it.
"In order to maximize the benefits, some housing agencies rent out houses that have just been renovated for a few days, which is irresponsible for the tenants’ right to health." Han Xiao, a Beijing Kangda law firm, said in an interview with the media that if the court finds that there is a causal relationship between the tenant’s illness and the decoration and the house, according to Article 2 of China’s Tort Liability Law, the house decoration and lessor should bear the corresponding civil liability for compensation. At the same time, he introduced that at present, China’s housing rental disputes are mainly based on the Tort Liability Law, the Contract Law and the Judicial Interpretation of Personal Injury Compensation.
Whether the diseases suffered by residents are caused by excessive formaldehyde, if it is difficult to get the results in medical appraisal, the renter’s appeal may not be supported by the court in the end. Han Xiao reminded the public that if tenants feel unwell or suspect that formaldehyde exceeds the standard, they should immediately obtain relevant evidence, hire a third-party professional organization to conduct appraisal, move out immediately after doing the corresponding appraisal, ensure their personal safety to the maximum extent, and hire lawyers to take corresponding rights protection channels.
However, he also admitted that even so, after looking for a professional appraisal agency to make an appraisal, some parties still could not directly point the cause of the disease to excessive formaldehyde.
Luo Laiheng, a doctor in Nanchang Second Hospital, also agrees with Han Xiao’s statement. He said that the causes of the disease are various and not necessarily directly related to the decoration, so it is difficult to determine the specific causal relationship in medical appraisal. Yan Yuejin, research director of the think tank center of Shanghai Yiju Real Estate Research Institute, suggested that in case of suspected formaldehyde exceeding the standard, consumers should not only actively collect evidence, but also promptly complain to operating enterprises and relevant regulatory authorities.
— — Expert advice
Reduce pollution from the source, and the materials are environmentally friendly and ventilated.
At present, the housing supply in the rental market is tight, and tenants generally have a headache if they encounter problems such as excessive formaldehyde. After all, it is related to human health and cannot be sloppy. However, it is difficult to prevent indoor air pollution. After the discovery, due to the cost of living, economic cost and time cost, there is limited room for choice in the seller’s market.
In addition, because it is difficult to bear the high cost of asking a professional formaldehyde testing team to collect evidence, the harm of formaldehyde to the body can not be shown in a short time. It is easy for intermediary companies to avoid responsibility, and it is difficult for tenants to obtain compensation. Everyone can only choose not to do it or compromise.
Practice has proved that it is difficult to protect the health rights and interests of renters by relying solely on the independent adjustment of both parties, and it is also not conducive to the rights protection of consumer disputes. There is still a lack of clear rules for solving the problem of rent withdrawal claims caused by excessive formaldehyde.
"In the United States, the law clearly stipulates that rented houses must be rented after half a year of renovation." Peng Yingdeng, a researcher at the National Urban Environmental Pollution Control Technology Research Center, told reporters.
In addition to laws and regulations, in order to prevent indoor pollution, the United States and other developed countries have also taken some supporting measures. Peng Yingdeng told reporters that in many developed countries, furniture and building materials are required to use more environmentally friendly materials. "Most foreign furniture and building materials use phenolic resin, which contains only a small amount of formaldehyde and is basically negligible."
Peng Yingdeng said that the cost of phenolic resin is high, and many domestic enterprises choose to use urea-formaldehyde resin with much lower price in order to save costs, while urea-formaldehyde resin contains high formaldehyde. "The furniture in the Olympic Village of Beijing Olympic Games uses phenolic resin, and there is no indoor pollution problem."
Peng Yingdeng suggested that the state should reduce indoor formaldehyde pollution by controlling the raw materials of furniture and building materials, and encourage or support enterprises to use more environmentally friendly products. Cheap building materials bring temporary cost reduction and enterprise profit increase, but in the long run, the damage to human health can’t be measured by money.
Experts in the industry also suggested that formaldehyde is a "self-contained component" in many building decoration materials. Even if you carefully select and use high-quality and environmentally-friendly decoration materials, it is difficult to completely avoid its invasion. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain ventilation for a period of time after the renovation of new houses to ensure safety.