Are builders making too much noise? You might be able to do something about it.

As the weather gets warmer, you can expect to see builders working interrupted by rain or poor weather.

And we know that builders prefer to start working fairly early in the morning to get as much work as possible done during the day.

On their part, that's fair enough, but for retired neighbours or people working from home, this can present a whole host of problems.

Depending on the type of work, the noise can become unbearable for neighbours sharing a wall or garden fence.

Builders are of course allowed to make noise throughout the day, some jobs simply do make noise, no escaping that. But there are some rules around when.

According to Herts Tool Co, construction work should be restricted to the following hours:

  • Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm
  • Saturdays 8am – 1pm
  • Avoid noisy work on Sundays and Bank Holidays

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They went on to state: "Building work in public areas and on construction sites in the UK must be in accordance with the 1974 Pollution Control Act, which aims to protect the public against noise pollution as well as air pollution.

"This act limits noisy work to between 8am and 6pm from Monday to Friday. This does not mean that no work related to construction can happen outside of this, but it must be work which is not noisy, for example preparing a site and setting up for the day ahead, or tidying up the site after work."

However, some councils vary on what they perceive to be acceptable times to carry out work. Manchester City Council, for example, says noisy work should normally only take place between:

  • Monday to Friday: 7.30am to 6pm
  • Saturday: 8.30am to 2pm

They further stated: "No noisy work should be done on Sundays or Bank holidays.

"If you have a problem the first thing to do is speak to the company doing the work. If this doesn't work let us know and we'll investigate."