Party Wall noise and disturbance

“Can my Party Wall Surveyor specify the time of day that my neighbours’ builders are carrying out noisy building works?”

The answer is Yes.

And the answer is No.

The reason for this is that not all of your neighbours’ building work will be covered by the Party Wall Act.

Let’s say you live in a detached house, and your neighbours are adding a rear extension to their property. Excavations for the new foundations will be within 3 metres of your property, so these works are notifiable under the Act. Unless you give consent for the works, the Party Wall Surveyor/s will include the excavations in a Party Wall Award, which will specify, among other things, the hours during which the excavations are allowed to take place.

Now, the same neighbours, and the same extension. The excavations are finished, and now the builders are constructing the walls and the roof of the extension. Their property is not attached to yours, and the new walls are being built wholly on the neighbours’ land, set back from the boundary. These works are not notifiable under the Party Wall Act, and therefore the Party Wall Surveyor/s have no jurisdiction to specify anything in relation to these works, including the hours during which these works may take place.

Building work is noisy, and some disturbance, although unfortunate, is inevitable. If the noisy works are not covered within a Party Wall Award, then you should seek advice from your local authority. Your local authority will have a policy regarding noisy building works, which will include the hours during which such works will be permitted. If your neighbours are carrying out noisy building works at unreasonable times, for instance during the evenings or on a Sunday, then my advice would be to contact your local authority and discuss the matter with them.

For other information on Party Wall matters, please contact David Vizard MFPWS at Woodward Chartered Surveyors
01923 920950
david.vizard@woodwardsurveyors.co.uk

Party Wall Surveyors covering Rickmansworth, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, High Wycombe, Harrow, Northwood and an area East of Oxford all the way to Oxford Street and Mayfair in London.  We are also Party Wall "Third Surveyors" and lecture on various aspects of Party Wall work for the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors (FPWS).