Inconsiderate neighbours - building work

[Annoyedneighbours]

Next door neighbour has started to have some roof work done today without any common courtesy to forewarn us. Don’t have an issue with the fact there will be noise but I went out into my garden this morning to find the workman stood on my garage roof (felted and relatively old so not very stable) to help him get up the ladder in their narrow alleyway! The neighbours hadn’t asked our permission for their workman to be on our garage roof and haven’t come around since to apologise. When I asked him to stop he said he thought the neighbour had asked me because they had told the other next door neighbour about the work; when I said I had no idea about the work never mind him being on my roof he looked all sheepish and then admitted he “needs” to get into my garden tomorrow to finish off the work because he wants to hang his ladder in my garden over our fence to reach next door’s roof! AIBU to deny this request to access my garden tomorrow? I may have been willing if asked in advance, but I am worried if he damages anything on our property or injures himself that we would somehow be responsible because we’ve let him onto our property if that makes sense.

For background the same neighbours had 3 months of internal renovations last year before they moved in which meant we had around 5-10 contractors daily making noise (I know that can’t be helped), leaving mess (including nails) on our driveway and letting their overfilled skip blow rubbish out onto our driveway, had plaster mix on our car (because they were mixing it on next door’s driveway which joins ours), and blocked our driveway with their vans etc even though they saw us with our young child.
We didn’t say anything to the neighbours because we appreciated they wanted the modernisation work doing, and we didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot to begin with.

Earlier this year they had some gardening work which came with angle grinding noise which isn’t ideal with WFH, but I complained to the neighbours after the third day (out of around 5 days worth of work) because they were cutting slabs and mixing cement on their driveway which caused a load of dust and cement to again blow with the wind onto our car and I got fed up after the second time taking it to be pressure washed before the cement stained the paintwork. The neighbour apologised after I told them, offered to pay (I declined) for the car being washed, and said they would tell the contractors to be more considerate which was fine. We never received any courtesy notice before any of this work started to help us prepare for the noise, or to move our car from the mess being created on the driveway, which was disappointing.

The workman could well be lying.

Check your flat roof hasn't been damaged.

For the sake of good relations, I'd talk to the neighbours directly, tell them what happened, your concerns about the flat roof being damaged and ask them what's going on. Make it clear the workman isn't allowed onto your property until you're satisfied with what's proposed and check he's insured for any damage - get details of who he is and check his reviews.

I'd also take photos of your garden so you have proof if anything is damaged (if you do grant permission).

I agree about photos etc.

I think they are not the kind of people to be tolerant of just because they are neighbours. Though talking to them might help if it ever came to damage and any claim.

Falling out with the neighbours is a recipe for misery though.

You need to be pleasant but assertive, and especially hardline with the builder who you don't need an ongoing relationship with.

Thanks for the advice - I went over to speak to them tonight as found a big nail and some other materials from their roof on our garage roof. Supposedly they didn’t know he would need to go on my garage roof and that he only “perched” on it as he was struggling to do the work in the tight gap, and they’ll ask him what he can do differently even though it’ll be more difficult for him. They apologised but were more bothered about whether I thought our garage roof was safe for him to be on (missing the bigger picture here IMO!), and when I raised my concern about my children in our garden with nails that have been potentially scattered around from the work, that they’re sure there won’t be any more in my garden despite them not actually watching what he was doing. Apparently they weren’t expecting him to work on the side closest to us today which is why they didn’t come over, but were aware from the workman that I was unhappy. They had told the other neighbour due to some shared access.

You sound like a miserable neighbour to me. Just chill. The work needs doing. They need to use your roof to access the area they are working on. If they cause damage then you can go complaining, but complaining about the possibility of damage in advance? You are being unreasonable.

YANBU! They have no right at all to be on your property… if you allow it that’s a huge favour and goid of them to remember it ..

Yanbu I once came home to several workmen in my back garden and a fallen tree from next door .My garden was being treated as an overspill area.

100%agree to this. You sound hard work

I don't think you're being unreasonable. Your neighbours sound really inconsiderate. Now it's up to you what you do next you either say no to access and decide that's how you want your relationship with them to be or you allow access knowing that one day you might need similar.

I'd go with the latter but be really clear that in future you expect to be consulted

I'm not sure on the legalities but would you liable if he fell through the roof having given him permission to do it?

Completely disagree. If the work needs doing it takes two minutes to let all your neighbours know it’s happening.

YADNBU OP. This is the third time that their work has inconvenienced you (nails in the garden is ridiculous) and they only seem to half heartedly apologise when you make it known to them that you have been inconvenienced

Once is just about acceptable, three times are they are entering CF territory

I understand it could come across the wrong way which is why I put the background info. Completely agree they can do the work to their property, but if the workman wants access to my property it’s common courtesy to let me know instead of letting me find a random man up a ladder and stood/sat on my garage roof when I’ve gone out into my garden with my young child. I’ve complained before hopefully any damage is done (although won’t be able to tell until have some heavy rain) in case damage was caused at a later date (he’s here all week I’ve been told) and the neighbours turn around to ask why didn’t I tell them before. At least now they know that the roof is fragile and he shouldn’t be on it despite them not having the common courtesy to notify me in advance that he would be on my property. Our roof does need replacing but it does the job for now as long as nobody disturbs it and due to the size of it, it’ll cost £500-1000 which we don’t have right now.

One of the neighbours even bumped into me yesterday morning before work started and didn’t even mention anything to me which I found disappointing seeing as I’ve got mess and now potentially nails in my back garden where he’s ripped stuff off their roof which I’ve got to clear up.

Why are you this upset about something that may happen? Seriously, you complained and they’ve both explained and apologised. It’s done. The work will continue for a few days. If you want to be THAT neighbour and refuse access, then do it. It’ll do you no favours in the long run. Neighbourly relations go both ways.

I have nothing to add but sympathy, our neighbours are exactly the same. They don’t have the common courtesy to let us know what is happening and we find random men in our garden. Apparently they couldn’t let us know because we were out.
They had someone working on the side of their house with the ladder on our drive and later on we found several nails on our drive.
Two days later DH had a flat tyre which had to be replaced because it had a nail in it. Problem is there is no way of proving it was from their workmen but it’s a big coincidence.

I don’t understand this attitude at all. Whenever my neighbours have work going on, I am fine with workmen doing their jobs even if that means touching my property now and then. The way you are going on about workmen and damages comes across that you have a very low opinion of workmen and think they are like the proverbial rhino in a china shop. I agree it’s a courtesy for them to let you know in advance, but I wouldn’t be marching over to complain. I’d be dropping by to say “noticed you’re having your roof done. Anything we can do just ask”

@Randomness12 I’m upset because I don’t want the inconvenience and the expense of having a leaking garage roof with electrical items like a tumble drier in it, and a lot of my childrens toys in it. And I’ve got young children who run around my garden and the items off next doors roof have been ripped off with the nails not taken out carefully, so there is a high chance there are some in our garden next to our fence where the work has happened given what we’ve found on our garage roof. I’ve seen a nail that has remained in their roof material which has been taken down and the one we can see on our garage roof, and I wouldn’t want to get one in my foot, but it would fully penetrate a child’s foot.

Everyone has their limits. Yours have been reached. This is what happens.

Absolutely disagree - bit late to complain after damage has been done and totally reasonable to be consulted and asked for permission to access to your property and roof!

We had this a couple of weeks ago and it pissed me off immensely. Our neighbour let a roofing company through our gates and basically told them they had free access to our garden to do whatever they wanted and it was fine with us. We didn't have a clue it was happening and when my DP complained about the huge buckets of roof crap they blocked our gate with (we were in a rush for a hospital appt), the roofer squared up to him.
They said they'd clear up but we're still finding nails, old felt and various other nasty bits of stuff that my toddler has tripped up over or picked up. They even had the cheek to use some of our tools and also made raised cutting areas with our bricks etc.
We had two full days of them sat on our roof, noise, trailing through our garden constantly, leaving the gates open and us not being able to let our DD use the garden as we only have land to the front so there's nowhere else for her to play. We also have a newborn so the constant noise and loud radio was fun 🙄.
Our neighbour has completely avoided us since and hasn't bothered to apologise. We thought he was ok before this incident but he's obviously a twat and has since been setting fires right against our boundary and filling our house with toxic smoke from burning plastics.

@PinkWisteria this is what I thought as I don’t want something to happen and then they turn around and say I should’ve said something earlier particularly about our garage roof being fragile. If it was a newly built garage I would still have been a bit miffed about not being told but I would be way less concerned about him damaging it or potentially going through the roof 😬

I'm sure you'd be overjoyed with nails and rubble etc. and a damaged garage roof, eh?

YADNBU, OP. Your neighbours sound like CFs and if you don't mention stuff like this now, they'll think they can get away with anything I future.

(speaking from bitter experience)

you don't sound miserable at all . These things should be agreed before the work takes place.
If there's a problem you need to know who's going to take responsibility , that's why I think you weren't asked , all too easy to pass the buck