To call the council to report neighbour

[roadtorouen]

Our last neighbours moved away and the house was sold to a property developer who seems to be doing the job on the cheap. For months now there have been really dodgy looking workmen in there who have been smashing the windows out with hammers, knocking walls down, burning all the rubbish in huge regular fires that last hours etc. We overlook their garden from the kitchen so it's like living on a building site. They have a massive pile of bricks up against our wall and no regard for other people. You can't even hang your washing out because of the constant fires.

At 7.20am today I was woken up by them throwing scaffolding and making huge crashes. They are now talking at the top of their voices while still banging about. AIBU to think this is far too early for a weekend? I work long hours in the week and have to be up at 6, so I was hoping to sleep in. They were here all week too.

I want to report them. I actually feel like they're affecting my life. I can't sleep past about 7, the smell of the fires leaves a nasty smell in my front room, they are always out there making noise. We are considering moving even though we were happy before.

I think you're missing the point NannyOgg which is that you're attempting to change behaviour before it gets to that stage. Most investors would want to maximise and protect their investment. That's why I've always had neighbours on side, they've been useful as well as not causing trouble.

The fires are an issue which you should possibly check with the council about. 7.20am is very early for a Saturday - could you talk to the developer again and suggest an 8am start at the earliest. The fact that they are there at weekends would suggest that they are trying to get it done as quickly as possible.
I'm not sure why a pile of bricks in the next door garden is a problem to you? Obviously as the build progresses these will disappear anyway.

What exactly could the police or council do about builders being noisy ? I worked nights for three years so slept during the day people were always very noisy but there was not a lot I could do about people Going loudly about their buithe day ssness during

Helloi

Yes of COURse there are rules and regs on building! otherwise big companies would be building round the clock,

call your council EH and immediately say they are burning COMMERCIAL WASTE and it needs immediate attention, thick black smoke etc...risk from brisks flying into your property and so on.

Then also call buidling regs part of council and say you are worried about buidling and not sure they have the correct permissons, set fire on fence, burning commercial waste and your worried. they will get someone out to check over the site, have a look at what they are doing and proposing.

TBH I have never found EH helpful at all, however building regs, have been shit hot.

• UnexpectedAutumn

What a horrid post.

Your buidlers are working within normal working hours, reasonable hours.

This ladies builders are not.

If you have not had to experience the world of the rouge builder who do exactly as they please you are not best placed to comment.

I have, and its a nightmare.

OP I have been in your postiion and I got action taken, EH went round to tell them not to start before certain times or finish late, I cant remember start time but on a saturday they must finish by 1pm./

you have a right to a peaceful life and time. they are allowed to work, as people have a right to build, but in a way that doesnt rob others of a right to a peaceful life.

Dont forget to take pics of the fires, the smoke, the stuff they are burning....the bricks in your garden

The bricks are a problem because there is a huge mountain of them against our outside wall and we can hear bricks hitting it when they throw them on the pile.

• just accept it's crap but will be over as soon as possible

Op hopefully you can see the projection going on here! Builders do have to work to hours that are socially acceptable and your council and building regs will know about the hours and at the very least have a chat with them, this can be very helpful esp with people who think they can just do what they like when they like because they need too, we all exist together and have to rub along together.

Op I had to live all day with noisy work, and I did but come 6pm I wanted it over and I didn't want it over the weekend.

Unless your living with the horrifically invasive noise and disruption its hard to empathise, my DH and I could not watch tv, could not even hold a conversation when he had a car accident, we had to physically leave our house at 7pm and go elsewhere to discuss his nasty accident and the writing off, of our car.

Also I told buidling regs and they came and stopped the work, they were trying to extend without proper fire precautions in place.

Is the pile of bricks what the builders are going to use and they are stacked up against your house wall? If so, this could introduce dampness into your house walls because I bet there's no damp proofing under them. If this happens, mould will be the next stage.

Sorry to be a pessimist but if the factors are there, it's worth bringing up the subject with them.

If they are gutting the place and knocking through walls, they need to have had a very thorough asbestos survey done - but there are loads of dodgy firms out there that don't bother. The fact that they are burning waste is a worry, from your description they do not appear to be doing things by the book, so possibly are flouting the asbestos regs too.

In my town there is a huge refurb project underway on some old offices being made into appartments - it's all on hold after asbestos was unexpectedly found on site.

You can call 101 to report noise I heard it on the radio yesterday, they were talking about bbq weather and reporting noisy neighbours

You can call 101 to report noise I heard it on the radio yesterday, they were talking about bbq weather and reporting noisy neighbours

So the building work has been going on for months and they have pulled down walls and knocked out windows - so what exactly are they burning so frequently that causes all this smoke? Seems like rather a strange renovation.

Have been having similar problems here. Always a good start to see if they have applied for Building Regs and/or Planning Permission (if needed). I did, right at the beginning of a project and after a lot of bluster from the nighbour and her contractors. As others have said, Environmental Health for the noise nuisance/concerns with fumes/asbestos. I am not sure if the noise guidelines posted above are national ones, but they correspond to those from our Council, too. Took over six weeks for them to investigate, mind you, so now there is a moth-balled house next door which they can hardly live in cue rubbish relations with them as work has stopped mid-way through.

I've only had a quick skim through this thread, so apologies if I'm duplicating what someone has already said here!

Under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 Local Authorities have the ability to set the times during which noisy work may be carried out. Usually these tend to be Monday to Friday - 8am to 6pm and Saturday - 8am to 1pm with no work allowed on Sundays. Double check what your council says (it should be available ion their website and then call their Noise & Nuisance team.

With the burning of rubbish - as a couple of people have already said that's likely against environmental legislation. Give your council's Environmental Health team a call.

As someone said it's sound like some serious work is going on. It might be worth checking on your council's planning portal to see if they have planning permission for the work they are doing.

This last thing is massively unlikely (since they sound like a cowboy company) but if they are members of the Considerate Constructors Scheme then you can report them here