Squeaky floors whos responsible Owner or HOA

I have a downstairs Owner who is telling his upstairs owner they need to fix thier squeaky floor (not sure if it is floor or joints)and has given them 60 days to fix.\

does this even fall under the rights of quiet enjoyment ? I would not consider this excessive noise so can he demand this. Or would this fall under the this old house rule and welcome to community living?

We need some clarification:

* Do you own both units, or only the downstairs one?

* How old is the building? How many units? Is it a high-rise, or converted older structure?

* What do your governing documents say about flooring requirements for upstairs units, if anything?

* What do your governing documents say about nuisances, noise, and related complaints?

* Does Washington have any state laws that would be relevant? (For example, California requires flooring to pass certain requirements.)

* What is the history of the upstairs unit? For instance, is the flooring original to the building? Did the owner or the tenant install flooring without approval? Have any of your previous tenants complained about the same thing?

Here is what my association's attorney told us when we were dealing with a similar issue:

- The "quiet enjoyment" and similar restrictions are not objective and can be hard to enforce, unlike parking rules and the like. In that case, you have to look at what is "reasonable" and what a typical owner would object to, and this is always a judgement call. (Ohio doesn't have specific noise or flooring requirements for condos.)

- The board needed to first verify the complaint: were we able to hear the same thing that the complaining person did, and what was our opinion? (In our case, the complainer was fussing about noises that nobody else could hear. So you shouldn't just take someone's word that there is a problem - investigate first.)

- People who live in multi-family housing should expect some level of noise. People who are especially bothered by it have some obligation to choose housing situations that meet their needs. In other words, if you can't stand to have noise overhead, you should not live in a home that has neighbors upstairs or that has thin walls/barriers between units - you'll never be happy no matter what steps the neighbors take to modify the situation.

- From personal experience: the behavior of the upstairs neighbors has more of an effect than the flooring.