Spring is here and along with it open windows, morning coffee on the terrace… and suffocating cigarette smoke from the neighbor from below. Slovak flats are again changing to the battlefield – non -smokers versus smokers. Can your neighbors smoke under your nose with impunity? Or do you have the right to clean air in your own apartment?

“They lit a pipe at three in the morning. And I was choked in the bedroom.”

“The neighbors from the floor below have made a smoking club from the balcony. They sit there every night and smoke like a steam locomotive – even until three in the morning!” Marek from Bratislava complained. According to him, the same scenario is repeated every year: he opens the window to ventilate, and instead of fresh air, he enters the room stink from cigarettes.

Similar complaints come from all over the country. Most often they relate to smoking on balconies when smoke rises up and interferes with the inhabitants of the upper floors. Sometimes it ends up at a neighboring quarrel, sometimes when the windows are hammered with towels.

Smokers versus fresh air: Who has the upper hand by law?

The law in Slovakia does not explicitly prohibit smoking on the balcony. According to Act no. 377/2004 Coll. on the protection of non -smokers pays prohibition of smoking in schools, hospitals, restaurants, at stops and public transport – but not in private areas such as apartment balconies.

So yes, technically, your smoking neighbor has “right”, as it may tell you irritably. However, this does not mean that it is completely without punishment.

Housing cooperatives can intervene. Sometimes vigorously

Some housing communities or administrators have already begun to notice that smoke creates real conflicts from the neighbors. Therefore, they introduce their own internal rules that forbid smoking on balconies. Such a prohibition may be part of the house order or statutes of the apartment owners’ community.

What does this mean to you?
If you have such a prescription in the house and the neighbor violates it, you can report it to the administrator or the President of the Community. Theoretically, he may also face penalties – fines, or in repeated cases a lawsuit for restricting the rights of other residents.

Beware of fire, cucumbers and ashes: There is already a fine

Although smoking on the balcony itself is not forbidden, some behavior is already punishable by the law. If the neighbor throws out the cucumbers or shakes ash from the balcony, he violates § 47 of the Act on Offenses – he faces a fine of up to EUR 500 for pollution of the public space.

Even more harder, the law looks at situations where a fire could occur. An open fire on the balcony, determined by spaks or smoking for flammable materials may be the reason for firefighters’ intervention – and the fine may be even higher.

When the domestic order is not enough: how to defend yourself?

What can you do if your neighbors smoke?

  • Find out if your community has rules on smoking on balconies.
  • Try to talk to your neighbor first.
  • If this does not help, contact the administrator or the President of the Community.
  • Document repeated cases (video, photos, date, time).
  • In extreme cases, you can file a complaint for hygiene or municipal office.

Conclusion: Freedom of one ends where the stink of another begins

There is not much to talk about this topic yet, but it is time to open the window – and the discussion. The balcony is not a private world without rules. And we should all breathe, not just smokers.

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