Hi all, I have a quick question. A neighbor in my apartment building likes to leave his shoes outside his apartment, specifically all over the staircase leading to the storage area in the attic. A couple of times I almost tripped over them while going down the stairs. I tried speaking to him about putting his shoes inside his apartment or in some safer place, but he refused to move them. I was wondering if this sort of thing is allowed in Switzerland, or whether it would be considered a safety hazard and if I have a legal right to have them removed? Thanks in advance for your help.
A lot of people in the smaller apartments on the upper floors of our building were storing shoes and other stuff outside their front doors. The management company wrote to everyone to say they had 7 days to clear everything or it would be done for them.
New neighbours who moved in above us 2 months ago had furniture and other assorted junk piled in the entrance hall for 3 weeks. They didn't seem inclined to want to move it, despite neighbours including ourselves offering to help. Even stuck a note on it saying they intended to leave it there for another fortnight. We had to ask the husband politely if he could move it away from the front of the courtyard doors because the cleaner was coming the following day and he sweeps up out there. Someone complained to the management and he was told to get it moved immediately.
Now they have a huge kids buggy outside their front door which is peeing off their neighbours, their balcony is also piled up with rubbish
I was always wondering why people do this (store their shoes outside in the Treppenhaus, next to their doors). This was a habbit of some of our neighbours in Vienna AT, also in Dietikon CH. What's the benefit? As long as it is a pair of shoes or boots I don't mind, I just don't get it.
Some people perfect this to the extremes and put _all_ their boots and shoes in the corridor. WTF???
You can't make a rule where you just say "A couple of pairs of shoes is ok but don't go mad and leave loads" because it's just open to interpretation. Stuff left in the staircase has two implications, 1) it's a trip hazard, even more so in the event of an emergency and 2) it's a fire hazard and staircases have to be kept free of combustibles to provide a safe route out in the event of a fire.
The fire police are entitled to do inspections in buildings to make sure rules are adhered to.
Many people have those slim shoe cupboard with rack that open out. As long as they are slim and shoes are kept inside, then fair enough. Those racks are designed for this.
But otherwise, same as for prams, bikes, etc, not allowed. Ask the Agents to deal with this.
We only ever leave shoes outside our door if we've been out walking in wet weather, then we take them in when they're dry. As we are at the very end of the corridor they don't cause an obstruction. The lady next door to us leaves her trainers on by her mat if they're wet, again she takes them in when dry and they're not causing an obstruction.
On the upper floors people had shelving and cupboards about 4 feet high outside their front doors and there's a different layout up there as some of the flats overlook the other side of the street. We're on the first floor which is really just a mezzanine level, from the street it looks like the ground floor.
That's what our building has -- tall shoe cabinets in the hallways that are attached to the wall, next to everyone's door. Of course, though, some people still leave their shoes on the floor in the hallways, but usually only if they're wet and they're usually pushed to the side, out of the way.
The bigger problem in our building is kids leaving their bikes, scooters and balls in the entrance area near the front door to our building... despite there being a "velo raum" just a tiny flight of stairs right below.
A fireman told us that he keeps telling people this, and sometimes the penny drops and they desist.
"Imagine there's a full power outage at night. You have no lights, but so does the rest of the town or city. It's completely black. Your traumatised grandfather has a panic attack, or maybe it's a heart attack, you can't quite tell. The phones have not yet been powered up, either. You want to get him to the doctor. Your child is too small to be left alone at home. You need to get them both out of the building. Now: if you had left shoes in the hallway, just outside your door, would you be able to avoid them as you step outside, in a hurry, carrying someone?"