Building work

Building work can be noisy, but with care it can be carried out without causing too much nuisance to neighbours. Contact your council for help if you are having problems with noise from building work or DIY.

Ask the contractor in the building site what work is being done and how long it will last. This will give you an idea of how much noise you will have to put up with.

Noisy building work
Reasonable times for building work
Noise from DIY
Reasonable times for DIY

Noisy building work

It is a fact that building work is often noisy. However, this doesn't mean that builders can annoy people with noise at all times of the day and night. Building contractors should consider ways to reduce noise at the planning stage.

When carrying out work builders should try to reduce noise as much as possible. Where possible building equipment should have silencers fitted and work should only be carried out during reasonable hours.

Reasonable times for building work

In residential areas the priority is ensuring that people are able to sleep at night. There are very strict controls around working at night or when people are getting up in the morning.

Too much noise during the daytime can still be against the law. The council can take action if the builders don't show any consideration for neighbours.

Noise from DIY

Most people have jobs that need to be carried out around the house, especially if they have just moved in. However, you must be careful that noise from your DIY work does not annoy your neighbours.

You can minimise the disturbance and noise caused by DIY work and decorating by thinking about what work you are doing and carrying out the noisiest activities at a reasonable time. Speak to your neighbours, find out what times they are away from home and let them know what you're doing and when you plan to finish.