Loud bang noise in the basement after flushing the toilet

Hello, I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
I live on the 1st floor of a 20 floor apartment block.
I hear a loud banging sound coming from the pipes.
I've been complaining about it for ten months, and they've tried, but haven't solved the problem.
I work from home, so I'm the apartment almost all the time. I hear the noises in the mornings, evenings and nights Monday - Friday, and throughout the day on the weekend. Also, there are odd days when I don't hear it at all, like over Christmas. And on public holidays, I hear it throughout the day.
This has lead me to believe that the noise is being caused by the usage of plumbing in one particular apartment above mine (38 apartments above me share the same pipe stack.)
The noise is loud. It happens either once or twice in a row, sometimes three times. but then the noise is gone, and might happen again an hour later.
I suspect it's coming from the sewage pipe.
I've suggested to the apartment management that they need to get access to each of the 38 apartments above me, and flush the toilet and open and close each tap in each apartment while I or someone else listens for the bang.
Any idea what's causing the bang, and how to fix it once we find which apartment it's coming from?
thanks!
Edit: No one else complains about the noises but me on the 1st floor.
The building is 40 years old

I tried to find a youtube video with a water hammer sound. I found many that had an extended vibration or oscillation sound, but non matched water hammer -- which is more of a bang. It may be my inability to search Youtube well enough.

The sound is cause by valves closing quickly, and the flowing water gets shut off suddenly. There is a bang since the water is brought to a halt. It crashes into the now-closed valve. New toilets tend to turn off more quickly than they did many years ago. New construction uses gadgets called a water hammer arrestor near fast-closing valves. I did find an example older water hammer arrestor, and I wonder if there could be similar construction in your building.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TfvbfrkMrY So there is a limited amount of stuff your management will do. One would maybe be to add some sound insulation to cut down on the sound you hear. Another might be to drain the pipes periodically to allow the air to drain out of the old non-piston hammer arrestors as shown in the video. What I don't know is if this would be at all effective if people did not open valves and admit air. Could air bubbles migrate upward past the existing water into those no-piston water hammer arrestors? I don't know. I would guess that it would work for some but not others. I don't think that the management will be able to get everybody to open faucets and flush toilets at a pre-scheduled time.

So turning off the building water for 15 minutes (my arbitrary guess) at 3 AM (my arbitrary time) and opening many lower faucets, would help, or it wouldn't.

Not a pro. Good luck.

I (another amateur) agree with Reach4 -- it's most likely water hammer, and has nothing to do with the sewage pipes. Look for any fixture with a fast-closing valve, like toilets, dishwashers, washing machines. It may be multiple toilets, not just one. If you could get physical access to the pipes at your level, you might be able to see the culprit pipe move as the water screeches to a halt. Often just securing the pipe will solve the problem.

thanks

Interesting video, thanks.
Management has already tried draining the pipes, but it didn't help.
Management is sending out a note to tenants in the apartments above me to schedule a test where each tenant will flush the toilet and open and close each tap while someone listens by my place. We will cross off each apartment as we go until we find the source of the bang.
I'm so sure it's coming from just one apartment because I have been monitoring it for ten months.
Thanks!

args sorry about double post.
@ Mikey if we can't find the cause I will ask for the key to the door that closes the pipe stack and I will sit and watch and wait for the bang. It's one of the metal pipes I'm sure it's so freaking loud. Will update if we find a solution

clicketyclack said:

Will update if we find a solution

Click to expand...

Looking forward to the answer!

Mikey said:

I (another amateur) agree with Reach4 -- it's most likely water hammer, and has nothing to do with the sewage pipes. Look for any fixture with a fast-closing valve, like toilets, dishwashers, washing machines. It may be multiple toilets, not just one. If you could get physical access to the pipes at your level, you might be able to see the culprit pipe move as the water screeches to a halt. Often just securing the pipe will solve the problem.

Click to expand...

It does sound more like a water supply issue than it does a drain issue.