To think builders should ask before removing slates /ridge tiles from my roof?

[ProfessorHasturLaVista]

New neighbours next door are completely gutting and refurbishing their property. Fair enough.
The builders are only working on a Sat and evenings, which is a pita due to the noise but I know there’s give and take required in living in a terraced house.
This morning they start merrily taking ridge tiles off and replacing lead underneath etc. We had this replaced ourselves a few years ago and there’s nothing wrong with it.
Party Wall Act doesn’t seem to apply to roofs, but if it’s something that could affect our property in future surely we should have a say? We know nothing about the building company as we didn’t engage them, so where would we stand if they don’t do it properly?
Never see new neighbours. Met them once when they first bought.
AIBU to think it’s cheeky to start removing tiles and slates?

Why are they doing it? Yes, I would definitely go round and ask what’s going on.

Yes, if they're doing things to your property they should have talked to you first - as the neighbour I'd have come to you with the builder in tow to explain what was happening.

Spoken to builder who got a bit defensive (doing you a favour, not charging you for it) but he backed off a bit when we said past experience of Next Door Builders hasn’t been good.
The owners obviously don’t give a shiny shite about inconveniencing us so I was wondering what regulatory recourse we might have to make them ask us/formally agree shared work.

"Not charging you for it"

They also mentioned taking down a back chimney. Shared, from small fireplaces in what are now upstairs bathrooms. I’m really not keen on this now, but I’m not sure how it would work with only half a load bearing beam across their bit - won’t that make ours more unstable?

IKR The MemoryLingers. I came across all Dowager Duchess I should think NOT!

I’d be telling them in no uncertain terms to get the owners to contact you ASAP before they touch anything else connected to your property. I’d think a chimney removal would be party wall agreement time.

They may not remove your tiles etc. What the hell are they doing? Did you tell them it was replaced recently?

The builders sound dodgy
Speak to building regulations department at your local authority for advice

They just burned through the last shred of good will I had, NoSquirrels so they’ll need a cast iron agreement for me to sign. This has been going on since Dec as they are apparently doing a favour for family and only working on it evenings and weekends. Every inch of plaster removed from 3 stories, knocking through downstairs extension rooms.....huge job! So I’m at the limit of having my downtime disturbed by drilling and sledgehammering.

Cherrysoup they said it was a shit job. . My roofers might be interested to know their opinion!

I really don’t want to fall out with new neighbours before they move in but I expect a bit of courtesy.

Thank you Happygirl I might do that on Monday.

Have you checked the by laws for working times in your area ?

Yes, notapizzaeater. Council were very unhelpful. Apparently there are no regulations.Not even the standard ones of 8-1 on Sat and not at all on a Sun/Bank Hol. I would need to keep a Noise Diary for 3 weeks then contact Environmental Health. Reluctant to do that because it’s a reserved but friendly terrace and we all rub along fine bar the odd grumble about drains etc which is sorted amicably.

Good point notapizzaeater Builders aren't allowed to work evenings and all w/end if they are making a lot of noise! And they should be touching any of your property without your agreement OP. Worrying about the chimney though. Can you get your roofers/builders back to get advice?

Sorry x -posted. Amazed at your council!

Did they need planning permission for their extension OP? If so, the PP often includes permitted hours for doing the work and they can be forced to comply.

If not, I'd be keeping a noise diary and reporting the neighbours to environmental health for noise nuisance.

The removal of a chimney stack is a big job with structural implications. I'd be gobsmacked if doing that to a shared stack doesn't require a PWA. I'd also want to be sure that they have public/third party insurance before they fucked about with anything to do with my roof. If they're not doing the work officially, through their company, the insurance might not apply.

BIL recently did some remedial work for a case where a builder had fucked up a neighbour's house, and the client was having it paid for by his insurers, because there was a question mark as to whether the contractor's cover applied because the work was being done via some sort of "informal arrangement".

This is serious. They have no authority to touch your property and please remember you have no recourse against them whatsoever if they cause damage or do a bad job. Doubt your neighbours will put hand in pocket if your roof starts leaking all of a sudden? This includes shared items like chimney (are you sure this isn't party wall? It should be). I think you need to make it very clear otherwise I am afraid you need to get a solicitors letter basically telling your neighbours they must not touch your property otherwise you will take action.

Also they are working outside local authority permitted times and taking the piss. Personally I'd tell them to fuck off and do it in working hours and report your neighbours to your council. Follow the rules FFS.

The insurance point above is a really good one too. If this work is all off the books you could be really exposed.

I was worried about insurance too. They are a big company, reputable from what I can see, but are relatives of the new owner so fitting it in around their bigger clients. And fuck anyone disturbed by them doing that.

The extension and loft conversion were done by the last but one owners about 16 years ago. They invited us round, explained fully what they were having done and gave us written agreements to read and sign where applicable. Their work was all done during 8-5 on weekdays too.

I have no intention of agreeing to them touching that chimney now, ProfessorPollington. Apart from anything else, if they are only working weekends then scaffolding will need to be up in my garden until they get round to it. So no, they can cock off with that one, frankly.

sunshinesupermum I was amazed too! She flat out told me there were no such thing as regulations, despite Gov.uk clearly stating there are and they vary from area to area. I went through the Building Regs dept too, who referred me to Environmental Health.
Oh and on the subject of Environmental Health, the front garden has been piled with building waste for 3 months now. That is ok too, according to them. They are fucking useless.

scaffolding will need to be up in my garden until they get round to it

And from the sounds of these people, the scaffolding would likely hang around for weeks after the job was done - that happened to us and it was a PITA, we had to phone about five times before it was eventually taken down. If you do consent to scaffolding, get a written agreement as to when it will be going up and being taken down.

@sunshinesupermum, it's pretty standard. The law re noise nuisance is in the Control of Pollution Act, which is why it's dealt with by environmental health. The hours during which construction may take place are usually a condition of any planning consent, and come under the planning department.

When work is done under permitted development rules, it's much harder for the coucncil to address noise nuisance because they don't have the blunt instrument of the breach of planning conditions at their disposal, so can't threaten to issue a "stop" notice.

The 3-week noise diary is fairly standard practice. It means they don't have to use resources in addressing problems of a very temporary/short lived nature.

I've got a noise diary on the go because one of our neighbours seems to be intent on slicing up the entire county with an angle grinder on every dry Sunday. Thankfully, we haven't had many of those lately.

Re scaffolding: when my neighbour had her extension done, I cam home from work to find scaffolding erected across my drive, which meant we couldn't get our car in.

She didn't know, her builders (who were lovely, and very considerate) didn't know and the builders ripped the scaffolders a new one and made them come back and re-do the scaffolding in a way that didn't impinge on our drive.

When it was all done and the scaffold came down, the scaffolders dropped a board and a scaffolding clip through our garage roof. They flatly denied it, despite us having the clip and the board in our position. The builders repaired all the damage and, tbh, the roof's in better nick now than it was before.

Scaffolders are rarely considerate imo.