Construction Noise

[kbbeanie]

I Live in a quiet cul de sac. There was recently a house for sale and it has now been bought and needs some renovating.
There is never anyone near it all day but they seem to rock up around 6pm.
Tonight they have been what sounds like drilling into the ground with some big digging machine for over an hour and still going
its now 7.30 and im trying to get kids to bed unsuccesfully with the noise
DP just went up to them and they said they will be another 30 minutes or so

AIBU to think this is too late for this noise in a residential area ?

Way too early to expect them to stop. It's likely they are at work all day so only have after to do jobs. After 9.30ish would be unreasonable but it's later that they are allowed to make noise until.

Little - not quite - if they are digging are they adding an extensions They will often have allowed construction times in there planning approval.

Additionally most councils seem to have guidance online eg

www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/business/environmental_health/contaminated_land_information/control_of_pollution_from_smal.aspx

So 6pm on weekdays, 9am to 1pm Saturday's and no work on a Sunday is the advice from them.

It is usually only builders that are bound by construction times.If they are doing the work themselves it won't apply.
Never heard of planning approval specifying construction times.Certainly does not happen around here.in any case they might not need planning approval if it is a permitted development.
It is not too late at all.I would say up to 9 (at the earliest) is reasonable.

Oh maybe i AIBU then.
However i am going to contact the council tomorrow and find out if there is any laws regarding the noise

Its going to be incredibly disturbing if there isnt. They are hammer drilling a huge area of concrete out said it will take them quite some time to do it.

I just walked almost half a mile away from the house to my friends and was able to hear it in her house so you can only imagine what its like 2 doors down from me. Its making the ground shake in my house. I have hearing problems and it was still too loud for me and my oh couldnt hear the tv there was no way ds would have been able to sleep they just finished there at 8.45pm when it was pitch black.

I don't think limits on actual construction work (as opposed to DIY) apply only to professional builders. But I could be wrong. For that level of noise I think only work time hours is acceptable really.

The planning permission for land next to my house does have these times dictated.

Def contact council for advice - the link I posted was for domestic and small construction - find out what the neighbours are doing - you would not be unreasonable to ask them what is happening and how long they expect this to go on - I think the council would need to k ow that and the neighbour would be unreasonable to refuse to answer v simple questions delivered in a polite manner - stick to enquiry only at this stage - don't get in to a complaint until you have the facts from the council.

The neighbour might only be doing this for a week and so by asking you might be reassured that they think it will be over by Sunday and it may be just a week of gritting your teeth but ask them to finish by 9 - just knowing that it will finish at 9 will make it bearable for a week. Longer however then I think they are unreasonable and cannot afford the project they have taken on if they are unprepared to take on workers to do they heavy stuff in the day - it is unreasonable to expect people to put up with late night construction work every night till late for weeks on end .

We are currently nearing the end of a 2 year renovation in a terraced cottage.

So many times over the last 2 years I've cried, laid awake, stressed because our neighbours were having a go at us about the noise (despite having stuck to hours agreed with neighbours - 8am-9pm) There was nothing we could do about it, we both have jobs to go during the day, the work had to be done and if it wasn't us doing it, it would have been someone else.

What I'm trying to say is - I get why you are irritated (and so do the people doing the renovation) but please start by talking to them kindly, politely and respectfully. They won't be finding it a barrel of laughs either. The hours they are working to don't sound unreasonable. They aren't doing it to upset you purposefully, although I'm sure it feels that way at times!

Don't go at it the way my neighbours have - shouting, accusing, making passive aggressive remarks whenever we see them. All that has happened is that both parties are resentful.

Maybe sit down and agree some times, find out how long they might be doing the work for. Hopefully that way there won't be any tension and everyone will be on the same page.