To stop my neighbours using my wall to rest their scaffolding on

[hedgehog01]

Hi all,

Came home from work to find that the next door neighbours had scaffolders putting scaffolding up; they'd braced some poles against my house wall for extra support. I asked them to move the poles. They hadn't asked me so I hadn't had time to think about whether it was OK/could cause damage. I also didn't want to agree to it without asking the other people who own flats in my building. Was I BU? I like them very much but felt panicked.

You're not BU at all. They are very cheeky to do that without clearing it with you first.

I suggest you take bond from them and agree a maximum time for the scaffolding to be up. You can agree, before you allow the work to continue, a fee payable for every week (or part week) that the scaffolding remains up beyond this limit.

Scaffolding firms are notoriously tardy in removing scaffold. Builders will also invariably take the piss and draw out a job as long as they can get away with.

Think about safety issues too, together with what would happen if they damage your building.

If you live in a block of flats it's probably up to the management company in any event.

Just to be clear here - you don't have to agree to them putting scaffolding up. If they need to maintain an existing wall they could apply to the court (at their cost - no cost to you) for an order. They would have to pay for a surveyor to represent your interests.

Yanbu. Our wall was damaged by scaffolders for a nearby property and they never put it right.

Thanks for the support. I can't say I love the idea of there not being any netting in case something is dropped from it (it's positioned over my back door). It's being used by a decorator for two weeks though, so I suppose the chances of anything being dropped are slim to none.

I don't get the sheer brass neck of some people. Would they take down the dividing fence and have a party in your back garden without asking? Why is this any different? I'd be thinking again whether I like them as much as I thought. Neighbours are all well and good if you keep them at a respectable distance. Oh, and they don't trespass at will.

I think it's something they've done in the past and didn't think about asking.