Abstract: Residents of Guanzhu Garden Community in Chaoyang District, Beijing, report that since 2010, first-floor residents have illegally built basements under the pretext of pipe repairs. Especially since September this year, they have been imitating each other and competing to dig basements. The foundation is nearly hollowed out and even load-bearing walls have been damaged. Now, balconies of upstairs residents are gradually developing cracks, doors and windows are deformed, and a sound building has become a dangerous structure.

First-floor garden filled with construction materials

    "In our building, first-floor residents are generally digging basements illegally. The foundation is almost hollowed out, seriously threatening the safety of the building." Recently, Ms. Wang, who lives in Guanzhu Garden Community, Shibalidian Township, Chaoyang District, called our newspaper to report that some first-floor owners in the community are illegally digging basements, and the foundation of the entire building has been severely damaged. Ms. Wang said anxiously: "Our originally sound homes are about to become dangerous buildings. Who can come and take charge?"
    Illegal basement excavation turns first-floor gardens into small construction sites
    Just after entering the north gate of the community, one could see a pile of soil nearly 10 meters long on one side of the path directly opposite the gate. This path is between Buildings 216 and 311 of the community. Walking further and around to the back of the two buildings, we found that most of the small gardens outside the balconies of the first-floor residents in the two buildings were enclosed by wooden boards or thick burlap cloth, with only a small door allowing one person to pass. From time to time, workers pushed carts of soil out of the yards. The soil was wet and mixed with broken bricks and stones, obviously just dug out from underground.
    Through a small door, it was faintly visible that a group of workers was constructing around a hole leading underground from the first floor. In Building 216, on the path outside the gardens of two owners, in addition to piles of wet soil and broken bricks, there were two stacks of bricks covering 1 square meter and nearly 2 meters high, and traces of mixing large amounts of cement on the ground. The small garden at the back of Building 216 had become a small construction site. Although a "Construction Notice" was posted on the fence of the "site," the notice had no signature or approval from relevant departments, and was obviously posted by the owners themselves.
    Building foundation almost hollowed out, nearly 100 households facing dangerous buildings
    Ms. Wang introduced that Buildings 216 and 311 in Guanzhu Garden are both stacked villas, five stories high. Except for top-floor residents, the first and second floors, and the third and fourth floors, each belong to one household. First-floor duplex residents have their own small gardens outside the balconies, so some ground-floor residents took advantage of living on the first floor to excavate underground without authorization, expanding their usable space and building basements, completely disregarding the safety of the entire building.
    Ms. Wang reported that there are 12 households on the first floor of Building 216 and 20 households on the first floor of Building 311. Of the 32 households, 26 have successively built basements without authorization since 2010. Especially since September this year, first-floor owners have been imitating each other and competing to dig basements. The basements are about 2 to 3 meters high, with small ones of 50 to 60 square meters, and large ones extending under the corridors and gardens, reaching 80 to 100 square meters. "They dig soil, chisel holes, cut steel bars, and even destroy load-bearing walls underground. The entire underground of a building is about to be connected through," Ms. Wang said angrily. So far, most owners' basements have been completed, and four are still under construction. However, the earthwork has already been excavated, and bricks are now being transported in to build the basements.
    Mr. Hu, who lives in Building 311, said that the buildings in the community are of brick-concrete structure and are not suitable for building basements. But now the foundation soil under the building is almost hollowed out, and it is unknown whether the owners concerned have built load-bearing walls to support the entire building. The safety of the building is truly worrying. He also reported that since the beginning of this year, cracks have gradually appeared on his balcony, and doors and windows have become deformed. He suspects this is related to the foundation settlement caused by the illegal basement excavation on the first floor. Mr. Wang said more than once: "There are nearly 100 households in the two buildings. Now living at home is like living in a dangerous building. We are on tenterhooks all day long."
    Upstairs residents negotiate repeatedly without result; first-floor owners are arrogant and rush construction
    Ms. Wang said that the first-floor owners who illegally dug basements all used repairing sewer pipes as an excuse, but in fact enclosed their small yards and quietly built basements inside. Some even claimed to pay out of their own pockets to repair the underground pipes for the unit building, with an extremely arrogant attitude. Many residents had tried to dissuade the first-floor owners, but they turned a deaf ear to everyone's words and continued to speed up construction. Ms. Wang also said that a first-floor owner had taken the initiative to negotiate with her, expressing willingness to meet some of Ms. Wang's demands as a condition for him to build a basement. Ms. Wang said that nothing could be exchanged for the safety of the entire building and nearly 100 households. Some owners who illegally dug basements thus became angry and even went upstairs to pound on doors, threatening other residents not to meddle, with an extremely arrogant attitude.
    The Beijing Municipal Planning Commission stipulates that if owners want to build basements, they must obtain approval from the original approval unit of the building; otherwise, it is illegal construction. On the website of the Beijing Municipal Planning Commission, no relevant approval documents for building basements in this community could be found. These basements were all illegally built by owners without authorization.
    A responsible person from the Shibalidian Law Enforcement Team of the Chaoyang District Urban Management Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement and Supervision Bureau said that their investigation showed that first-floor owners were mainly repairing underground pipes, and some owners had illegally built basements during the repairs. They had issued stop-work notices to the owners concerned, but the urban management department faces some difficulties in dealing with basements that have already been built. The responsible person also said that the urban management department will continue to follow up on this matter to ensure that owners in the community no longer illegally dig basements.