If you experience a housing nuisance in your dwelling, always contact the property owner first. The property owner is obliged to investigate the causes of the nuisance and remedy the defects.
If the property owner does not take the necessary investigative and corrective measures despite your requests, or if there is disagreement about the existence of the nuisance, contact a Health Inspector. Based on your contact, the Health Inspector will assess the need for a housing inspection.
Indoor air quality
The indoor air in a dwelling and other indoor spaces must be clean, and and factors such as temperature, humidity, noise, ventilation, light, radiation, microbes must not cause health hazards to persons staying in the dwelling or indoor space (Health Protection Act (763/94) Section 27).
If you as a resident suffer from noise, cold, odors, inadequate ventilation, or similar issues, or if you suspect that the dwelling has, for example, moisture or mold damage, you should first contact the property owner or their representative (e.g., the housing company’s property manager, board chairperson, or landlord).
The property owner is obliged to investigate the causes of the problem and remedy the defects. In the case of a housing company, the responsibility for investigating and correcting the nuisance is determined in the articles of association. For example, moisture damage should be repaired immediately to prevent health hazards from developing.
Housing inspection request
If a housing nuisance has occurred in your dwelling and the party responsible for remedying the nuisance does not take the necessary investigative and corrective measures despite your requests, or if there is disagreement about the existence of the nuisance, you may contact a Health Inspector by phone or email.
The Health Inspector will investigate the nuisance matter with the property and/or dwelling owner as necessary. If the perceived nuisance cannot be eliminated or the matter resolved through guidance, you may request a housing inspection request form from the Health Inspector.
After the inspection request, the Health Inspector will assess the need for an inspection visit and, if necessary, arrange an inspection visit with the resident. In addition to the resident, at least one person representing the property will be invited to the inspection. The dwelling owner and landlord will also always be informed of the inspection. The number of participants is kept moderate.
NOTICE! Inspections are not conducted for the purposes of buying or selling a dwelling or to assess the condition of a building owned by the resident themselves. The Health Inspector has official responsibility, which requires demanding measures from the inspection subject if they are necessary.
A housing inspection aims to determine whether the dwelling causes health hazards to the persons living in it.
During or before the housing inspection, the Health Inspector interviews the parties involved and reviews the history of the property through available documents, such as any previously occurring problems like water damage or moisture damage repairs.
Important documents for the housing inspection include, for example, the property’s structural drawings and previously conducted condition inspection or condition survey reports.
Inspection equipment
During the inspection visit, the official makes sensory observations, non-destructive moisture measurements, and simple environmental measurements related to temperature and ventilation function.
Measures
Based on the information and observations obtained, the Health Inspector assesses the situation, which determines whether measures are needed to investigate the dwelling’s health hazard, such as requiring additional investigations to clarify the matter and obligating the party responsible for repairs to remedy the health hazard. If the authority has sufficient grounds to determine that there is no health hazard under the Health Protection Act in the dwelling, no measures are required.
After the inspection, the Health Inspector prepares a report, which is delivered to the dwelling owner and other parties involved.
Radon in dwellings
Radon (Rn) is
odourless
tasteless
invisible
a radioactive noble gas
Sources of radon
Radon cannot be detected by any of the senses. It is continuously produced in the earth’s crust and in all rock material.
Indoor air radon concentration is determined by measurement. You can read more about measuring radon on the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK website. Concentration varies by season, and in winter the indoor air radon concentration can be many times higher compared to concentrations measured in summer.
The radon concentration measurement period is between September 1 and May 31.
Reference values
In dwellings, workplaces, and other occupied spaces, the reference value for radon concentration is 300 becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m3).
A new dwelling should be designed and built so that the radon concentration does not exceed 200 Bq/m3.
Recommendations for measures
If the indoor air radon concentration exceeds 300 Bq/m3, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority recommends taking measures to reduce the radon concentration.
If the radon concentration is 200–300 Bq/m3, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority recommends appropriate, easily implemented repairs to reduce the radon concentration.
If the indoor air radon concentration is below 200 Bq/m3, the radon safety of the room is adequate.
Building with radon safety
According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, construction should be based on radon-safe solutions throughout Finland.
Preventing health hazards caused by radon is considerably easier in dwellings under construction than in already built dwellings.
The Hämeenlinna building regulations include guidelines for considering soil radon concentration in construction.
