Regulations re domestic construction on bank hol weekends

Does anyone know if there are any regulations/restrictions for construction in a private house over a bank holiday weekend? My neighbours are having work done while they are away (they wouldn't care about inconveniencing their neighbours in any case) and there has been a guy with an angle grinder cutting tiles outside the front door on Saturday from 9.30 am until at least 8.30 pm, yesterday from from 1.15 pm to 8.15 pm and today from 11 am.

I'm really fed up with it as there has been construction noise all week long and one morning the alarm went off before 6 am, one of those really loud ones which went on for 20 minutes, the Saturday before we were all woken up at 8 am due to a cement truck delivering. I think it's a bit much for this to continue right through a holiday weekend but don't know what, if anything, could be done. It's too late for now I suppose, but I'd be interested if there were any regulations against noise like this.

This previous thread Noise from DIY fanatic might be helpful.

If you think thats bad, tree tiger, the couple next door to my mam are getting work done. They are not living there at the minute as the place is a mess. One of their parents "helps out" by hammering(dont know what exactly) at weekends and starts anytime from 4am to 6am and then leaves at 9am!

Also, anyone else helping out on the job is doing it either before or after their current job as well as those they are paying direct, like kitchen fitters, working during normal hours.

As a result there is work, very intermittently anything from 4am in the morning till about 11.30 at night. This has gone on since end March/early April. It is the slowest building work I have ever seen. One time the bricklayer came, put down a row of bricks and then drove off!

My mam and the neighbour the other side of them are going mad. There is an almighty row brewing.

MandaC said:

starts anytime from 4am to 6am and then leaves at 9am!

...

As a result there is work, very intermittently anything from 4am in the morning till about 11.30 at night. This has gone on since end March/early April.

Click to expand...

That is totally out of order. They should broach the subject with the people involved and/or make a formal complaint to the relevant authorities.

MandaC said:

One of their parents "helps out" by hammering(dont know what exactly) at weekends and starts anytime from 4am to 6am and then leaves at 9am!

Click to expand...

Wow MandaC, that's crazy, your poor mother. As I understand the regulations (I've been Googling), someone affected in this way is firstly supposed to go and explain, in a friendly way, that this noise is causing problems. There seems to be no recognition of the fact that a person inflicting such problems on everyone around them probably doesn't give two hoots about their comfort. And the next step is complaining to the District Court to get an Order to abate the problem. But when there's banging & thumping going on in the wee hours, a normal person just wants it to stop there and then, they don't want to have to take these official steps.

In the case I'm talking about, there is a builder in doing a job at the moment, it's not a private individual messing around with their power tools, and I was wondering if there is any regulation somewhere saying you can't do this. It's one thing when there's a gas leak or water mains bursting, obviously emergency repair works may need to be done at inconvenient times, but a private builder making such noise over a bank holiday weekend is not the same.

The weakness in this legislation lies in the fact that the councils in Ireland appear to have no role and it is up to neighbours to make the complaint. Obviously when the noise is antisocial noise such as loud parties etc from a rough element, this is not fair and may not be safe in some cases. The Green Party were promising to do something about this last election time.
[broken link removed]

In the thread that I linked to above there is mention of stipulations placed in some planning approvals. You may be able to check with your local authority to see if this applies.

Thanks Sueellen, I should have said the noise, certainly the angle grinder, is mainly related to work going on inside the house, they seem to be converting their attic and putting in new bathrooms. There is also a small construction going up behind the house. The house has already been extended beyond the 40 sq m limit for which planning permission was granted, so if this new construction is going to be accessed from the house then I believe permission would be required, but if it is just effectively a shed then it wouldn't.

Dublin City Council (if you are in that area) have an Environmental Health Officer. His name is John Healy and he is in the Quality and Noise Control Unit, 46/49 Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin 1. Phone No 8906276. I spoke to him last year about working hours for construction and he told me permissable hours were 0800 to 1900 Monday to Friday and 0800 to 1300 on a Saturday.

Thanks pico, I'm not in that area but will try phoning for info anyhow. What I really wonder is that if there are general restrictions on working hours by a builder (which I think there should be except for emergency works) wouldn't builders be aware of this, or are these guys just chancing their arms that no-one will complain.

TreeTiger said:

...if there are general restrictions on working hours by a builder (which I think there should be except for emergency works) wouldn't builders be aware of this, or are these guys just chancing their arms that no-one will complain.

Click to expand...

That'll be down to the difference beween regulation and enforcement. There are regulations on the speeds limits on our roads, but...

You can check the planning permission granted for this work online to see if conditions were attached on the working hours.
Leo

did they apply for planning permission for the works - you could check this on the co. website - a lot of the time the co. put restrictions on working hours especially in built up areas - i hear you tho, we bought a house in an estate and there was a builder (i now hate the site of) I counted it he used to bang a shovel off a cement trough 100 times every morning ...... wrecked my head for about a year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all the help, planning pemission was NOT applied for - as I said in a previous post, there is a small construction going up at the back of the house which would not require permission if being used as an outhouse/shed, but if it was an extension to the house then it would. Of course no one would know the situation without going into the house after completion whether it's accessible from the house or not!

The noise problem has mainly been related to work going on inside the house in that a guy has been operating an angle grinder just outside the front door.

I phoned the Environment department of a local authority to ask what the story was with contractors working over weekends/bank holidays and was told that there is an agreed code of practice whereby work may be carried out on a Saturday from 8am until 2pm, but not at all on a Sunday or a bank holiday. It would be very surprising if the contractor was not aware of this.

As to what to do, there is nobody in the office over the weekends so what an individual needs to do if they are affected by such noise is wait until Monday and get on to their local Environment Dept to complain (having a bit of evidence may be useful); they will send out someone to investigate and tell the offender not to do this again, if it does happen again, someone from enforcement will be sent out to them and I gather action will be taken if deemed necessary.

However, the neighbours are back from their holiday today so I imagine they won't want banging going on in their house now that they are home.