Shanghai Quanzhu Decoration Engineering Co Ltd appealed to a court yesterday, asking to repeal the decision of a lawsuit concerning indoor pollution after two air quality tests achieved contradictory results.
The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court heard the trial of second instance yesterday.
In trial of the first instance, the Changning District People's Court ordered Quanzhu to pay 59,000 yuan (US$7,108) compensation to Guan Chuanjiang. Guan was a client who signed a contract with Quanzhu on March 15, 2002, to decorate his new apartment on Huaihai Road W.
Guan and his family moved in five months later and they detected a "stimulating smell that made people cough and shed tears." They had to move out and lived in a rented house.
An air quality test conducted by Xuhui District Environment Monitoring Station in July 2003, showed the air in the living room and the child's bedroom contained excessive levels of formaldehyde, a toxic chemical.
The two sides couldn't reach a compensation deal and Guan filed a lawsuit seeking 71,000 yuan to cover rent.
During the trial, the Shanghai Construction Material Quality Supervision and Inspection Station tested the air quality again. According to its results, the formaldehyde level didn't exceed the maximum limit.
Zhao Xiaochun, Quanzhu's lawyer, said yesterday in court that the original ruling was unfair.
"During the first test, furniture bought by the client was also placed in the room while we moved the furniture out in the second test," Zhao said. "This indicates the pollution wasn't necessarily caused by our decoration. Substandard furniture may be the reason."
Guan said the different results were caused by the long interval between tests and different natural conditions like the temperature and humidity.
The court hasn't set a date to announce a final verdict.