My neighbour runs a paper-printing company which she operates out of her basement in her semi-detached house next to us.
Is this allowed? Can a printing company be runned out of her private residence? I mean it is not just an office but a paper printing factory.
I am a little fearful because of the potential fumes coming out of her house from the printing equipment.
These are poisonous over the long run. Yes?
There are no visible exhaust-purification setup in her basement rooms for this.
I have seen weekly deliveries of boxes of HP toners and rims of HP paper to her garage (entry to her basement).
She also leaves the garage door open (common garage to around 30 cars) by blocking the sensor with a block of wood, creating a potential security issue. She is lazy to wait for the HP delivery van and so left the doors open.
The paper is also a fire hazard because she also leaves them overnight (sometimes many days) in the carpark lot in the shared-garage.
Can someone advise if this is legal or she may have had a permit etc?
In my apt building, there is a woman running a creche.
Probably illegal, but doing no harm, so I turn a blind eye.
Have you approached the woman in question? She may be getting something off the ground and just about to rent a proper location, setting the cops on her might be bad form.
There are clear fire rules about what you are allowed to store in communal garage spots. The blocking of the garage is an issue. Heavy things in transit are OK to a point. Whole pallets of paper not.
Does she own the flat. In that case it is probably OK to run a small business hat has no pollution (noise, smells, etc) impact. If she is renting its unlikely this use is permitted.
I suggest you talk to the agency if you rent and/or the head of the owners association.
It sounds like she is doing digital printing, as long as you don't go suck on a printers exhaust you will be all right, I would be more irritated by the paper in the garage, that stuff is delicate to the extreme and storage in a garage will ruin it. Maybe if you told her that she would consider moving it someplace else.
I wonder if that machine is the same as what was called a "mimeograph" (mimeo for short) machine in the US? Our papers had purplish-colored ink that emanated a smell that was absolutely addictive. Everyone smelled their mimeo papers before writing on them.
Them's the ones, we had them at school as well, we got the papers on a Monday and the teachers knew that we would be high as a kite for the rest of the day.
Gestettner had a simular system to the mimeograph but really was used only for short runs with pretty grotty quality. They also had a true print machine that used paper printing plates, they had to be cured in Ammonia, if memory serves.
This seem consistent across cantons. Very clearly not acceptable to store burnable material: she may be compromising the insurance cover for the building this is serious. Act.
Fire safety awareness here does seem to be very minimal. Our apartment building for instance was new 5 years ago and does not have a fire alarm, a single fire extinguisher or fire hose and no fire doors on the different floors.
At least our building has very good doors which form an almost airtight seal. I have been more concerned after some visitors stayed in an older hotel here which allowed smoking and had no fire escapes - just a central wooden staircase.
I am no fan of the UK system where they go to the opposite extreme and have great garish EXIT signs stating the obvious and the like but the complete absence of any fire safety equipment here seems a bit daft. The attitude seems to be insure against everything and don't worry but all the insurance in the world is no good if dead from smoke inhalation!
I think your first point of inquiry is at the Gemeinde. And perhaps not to start a war with your neighbor from the start, quietly inquire the rules/regs for a business in your village without pointing fingers. Had a similar issue here with advertising on a residential building. It is indeed a bit of a fine line.
1. She has been running the business for at least 6 years. I lived here 6 years and she was here 1-2 years before us.
2. These houses are owned, not rented.
3. Her husband died 2 years back. She said it was some sort of cancer but we noticed he had a big red skin on half his head/face for the final months. I was worried this could be due to his printing job inside his basement.
4. His son has the similar red rashes skin occasionally now.
5. Definitely a long term business. However, there are no exhaust or ventilation system installed.
6. The next neighbour is the village volunteer fireman. He did not even say anything about the paper, so I keep my big mouth shut. The house admin has often discussed the garage rules. I even took out my plastic shelves rack because of this.
7. She is now a spinster with a 10yr old. I am not going to shame her or go to the authorities. I just wanted to get some feedback here.
8. She is, however, quite not nice to us. For example, her gardener parked his truck on my aussenparkplatz (external parking lot) while he did the relandscaping for 1 week. And she did not even ask me nor tell me in a friendly way. Sad. It is not a language issue.
She is not a "spinster" she is a widow. A "spinster" is a woman who was never married and really, this word hasn't been used since the Victorian times.
I don't quite understand the set up of the houses is. Where is her factory compared to where you live? Are you right above this factory? Do you breath in the fumes?
I'm guessing that after 6+ years someone will have noticed this illegal factory. It's not illegal to have business from one's home.
But I would ask the firefighter neighbor about the fire risk due to the paper she has stored. He will either make you feel better that the risk is low. Or he should go talk to her about how to properly store her paper.
The other thing I would do is inform her that she is not to leave the door open. Tell her about all the thefts that have happened and that she should really keep the communal doors closed.
As a fine powder, toner can remain suspended in the air for some period, and is considered to have health effects comparable to inertdust . It can be an irritant to people with respiratory conditions such as asthma or bronchitis . Following studies on bacteria in the 1970s that raised concerns about health effects resulting from pyrrole , a contaminant created during manufacture of the carbon black used in black toner, manufacturing processes were changed to eliminate pyrrole from the finished product.
According to recent research, some laser printers emit submicrometer particles which have been associated in other environmental studies with respiratory diseases . [[3]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toner#cite_note-3)
An unpublished study at the University of Rostock in Germany is reported to have found that the microscopic particles in toners are carcinogenic, similar to asbestos. Several technicians who had been working with printers and copiers on a daily basis were observed for several years. They showed increased lung problems . [[4]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toner#cite_note-4)
Then again you stand the same chance to get cancer from driving a diesel engined car, and your cancer is as certain as a amen in church if you are a miles and more gold card holder.
I would not breath the stuff more than I would superglue my mouth around the exhaust of a lorry, but for normal life the effect is negligible.
My dad died of cancer when he was 44. Laser printing wasn't even invented. Well, it may have been invented but people didn't have laser printers in their houses. It happens. Sadly.
Unless you are using only bio/natural/heath certified cosmetic products, eating only bio certified fruit and veg, wearing a mask when you leave the house, refrain from using a mobile phone or microwave, etc, etc, etc then I wouldn't worry about it.
Pneumonia and cancer sadly go hand in hand. Most of the time people don't actually die of "cancer". They die of complications related to cancer like low immune systems, etc.