noise pollution

[splatspeed]

sunday i was in my workshop

doing some work on my ultima only a couple of hours 2 - 4 in the after noon turned on the compressor for say 10 mins just to do some hole i couldnt get to with an electric drill about 4 holes

next thing i know whe is hitting my workshop with a stick

now i usually only do two hours a day in the week usually at 4-6 at the latest

think i am quite considerate

never do late nights

whats the laws conserning this

thanks sean

[GKP]

Perhaps you should've drowned the noise of the compressor with a petrol lawn mower! Would that have got chummy so riled?

I've had similar neighbour banging on the (closed) garage door when I was cutting skirting boards on a Tuesday afernoon! You have my sympathies.

[splatspeed]

trying to de escelate

but i do have a 2hp four stroke mower

and hardly any grass to cut need to run in the motor

although i know where the exhaust vents are now going to the v8 tuning

Sean

[dcb]

splatspeed said:

whats the laws conserning this

It's all based on what is reasonable.

One incident won't be enough to get the law involved.

Next time you are making a lot of noise, you
might want to give your neighbours a bit
of advance warning.

What goes around comes around.

[splatspeed]

how do they define resonable????

in the absence of rules what do you do

Sean

[parke]

If you are carrying out "work" (ie getting paid for it eg. ) you will come under the Control of Noise at Work Regs 2005 ( Physical Agents Directive ) and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Breaches of the act and subsequent regulations are criminal offences and will be dealt with at magistrate/crown court, if improvement notices or prohibition notices are not strictly adhered to. In the case of noise at "home" the common law requirement is that although we are allowed to carry out any legal activity within our boundaries ( this obviously includes garages ), everyone must have, and be entitled to, full and peaceful enjoyment of their home or dwelling. This stops next doors little Johnny thinking he's going to be the next Jimmy Hendrix or Angus Young. Strangly, it also applies to screaming kids, ghetto blasters, preparing race car engines and barking dogs etc etc etc. If someone is not happy with the amount of noise emulating from next door their first action should be discussion with the "perpertrator", as the next move could have disastrous long term repurcussions eg not getting invited to bar.b.q's. This normally involves contacting the local council ( environmental dept. ) who will take action at the next level, a site visit, discussions with all parties, a test involving the dreaded noise meter ( and remember what's acceptable at 10am may not be acceptable at 10pm ). Range, frequency and decibel level will also be taken into consideration. Finally, talking( over a cup of tea ? ) with your neighbour is always best.Her/his retaliation could be unbearable and lives, literally, have been lost over this most relatively "minor" issue. I wish you well.

[cooperman]

I've lived in my present home for 21 months and have hardly used my angle grinder until the Saturday before last when I had to use it for about 25 minutes. I was surprised to see a neighbour, whom I had never met, come around to complain. Fortunatly (for him) I had just finished the job so he went away again. However, I thought that 25 minutes continuous use in a 21 month period was quite reasonable and if I hadn't finished I would have ignored him and carried on.
Some people will always be whinging about something.

[puffpuff]

Had it been a cold November day when everyone was snug indoors with their windows closed I doubt complaints would have been made. On a sweltering summer day with all windows open a whinge is almost guaranteed.

So shut that fking noise up!!

[parke]

Puffpuff has hit the nail on the head ( quietly I hope ). People's perception of what is/what is not noise ( clarified by " unwanted sound " ) is/can be at the extremes of the spectrum. A one second noise @ 110db(A) once every 2yrs maybe classed as acceptable. The same noise level repeated every 5mns wouldn't be, and the E.P.A would also take a dim view of it and issue a compliance order ( and be careful not to infringe one of those ! ) If you live next door to someone who is hard of hearing, or deaf, I doubt you would get the same reaction as someone who has 5 kids, all under the age of 6 desparately trying to get them to sleep, although in that instance it's more likely that you would be doing the complaining! Ask yourself this, how would you ( seriously ) like it. Honestly ask the question and then have an open and friendly discussion, but remember, no two people will have the same opinion on what is fair and reasonable, nor what is an acceptable level of "noise".

[jasandjules]

Is it every day you do this?

Is there any way to talk to the neighbour and see when they are out, and do the work then?

[spaximus]

I suppose I am quite noisey to normal people but I have never once had a complaint. Basically I never use power tools after 9.00pm or before 9.00am especially at weekends. I also have made a point of being the most helpful neighbour anyone could have, in that way when you are making a noise the neighbours are much less likly to be aggitated because of the way you are liked. even when I inadvertenly set fire to a car on my drive ( its a very long story) there was just a "jeff's at it again" attitude and no hassle.
If you are considerate you can do most anything with in reason without a war with the neighbours.

[jasandjules]

Agreed. To me, half of it is simply whether your neighbour likes you or not. If you get on well, they are more likely to accept the oddities you may do (such as burning you car on the drive, a new one on me, but an interesting idea)....

If however your neighbours have never met you, gone out for dinner, had a nice BBQ in summer with them etc.. then anything you do can easily rile them. Oh, and sadly some people have no interest in being good neighbours either.

[splatspeed]

i have been really careful on the times i work in there have not gone past 6 in the evening and also been carefull to try dto do any long stints on a weekday during the day.

just replaced 1 neighbour after a long 5 yr war that started the day i moved in went round to introduce myself and find if he had any contact number for the previous owner as we had managed to catch there cat for them. his response was how the f**K would i know shortly before slamming the door in my fact

i now know why the house was so cheap

the new neighbours are gr8 they came round to appoligise in advance for the noise from his R6 i said not a problem as i started my tiger super six and drowned out his aftermarket pipe

i like to think i am good as a neighbour watch out for the old girl with altzimers on the other side

anyway i am just tryiing to do my hobby without getting banned the council are no use asked for advice and absolutly no help what so ever

[parke]

The problem with councils are the fact that they tend to be reactive as opposed to proactive in these issues. Although they also have rules/regulations/procedures etc, they tend, in the case of "noisy" ( and nosy! ) neighbour disputes to need some bench mark( or a complaint ) of what is not reasonable to enable them to make a judgement. It would be impossible for them, for reasons previously explained, to have a hard and fast ruling regarding noise, or more correctly, a perception of noise. That's just the way it is unfortunatly. Not all law, criminal or common, is strictly black and white. We're probably more used to, and actually prefer, definitive rulings ( eg 70mph max on motorways ) as we then know where we stand. Break that law and you are going to get done. That's simple! ( unless you know a good lawyer ).

[jasandjules]

splatspeed said:

anyway i am just tryiing to do my hobby without getting banned the council are no use asked for advice and absolutly no help what so ever

No, that doesn't surprise me. You could ask the council if they have had any complaints about you? (be clear you are not asking for names)

Also, what sort of area are you in? Are there any industrial units near? Any loud noise making houses in the street? Just that this will affec the amount of noise you can reasonably expect.

I would personally head round to the person who knocked and apologise to them, and see if there is some amicable resolution you can come to. Perhaps they go out on certain days etc.. Also, how much longer will you continue your hobby? If it will finish soon, you could tell them that too!!?

[cptsideways]

Mate of mine had a neighbour selling his family home, they did'nt want noisy kids next door so when the house was up for sale.......

every weekend when it was viewing time if a family with brat looking kids turned up he'd arm himself with a BIG angle grinder, push his muddy 4x4 onto the drive & make the place look messy & very noisy, get the all the toys out, eye up the wifey & start making a right racket

Worked a treat, new neighbour is single a petrol head who also plays with his cars

[jasandjules]

PMSL...

[gafferjim]

Having been in this position myself, I can expand on what our local council think is "unreasonable"
I have a kitcar, am the local area sec for the owners club, s obviously get regular visits, now the witch next door but one doesn't like this, and after me refitting the enigne of my car one Sunday afternoon, and running it up to temp, was heard to say (by the neighbour inbetween us, who doersn't like her either!) "i'll do something about this" 2 days later, I get a letter from the council saying that a complaint has been lodged against me for noise, ie, car engines running all the time. I phone the man at the council ready to give both barrels, he was actually very nice about it, and explained that for every complaint that first comes in, 2 things happen, 1 is the letter to the "noise maker" letting him know that a complaint has been lodged, the other is a sheet, in the form of a diary, that is sent to the complainant, they then have to fill in times and dates, type of noise and how long for etc. He then went on to say that most complaints fall there, as the complainent can't be arsed to fill in the diary. But if they do, they then send it into the council who look at it to see what's been going on.
He also said that a person was entitled to make a certain amount of "domestic noise" in reasonable hours, and this would include car repairs to own vehicles, including the necessary engine running. If the "problems" shown on the complainents diary fell into this time scale, and catagories, they would be told "sorry, within their rights"
He did however confirm what the council though were REASONABLE times, these were 8-30am to 7-00pm, weekdays and saturday, with 9-30am to 6-00pm on Sunday, (other council may differ!). since then I've kept to those times, it didn't however stop the witch, she put another complaint in some 12 months later, I got the letter, phoned the guy up, and told him to tell the complainent that I would sue for harasment if she carried on, as I had been sticking to the times. he said "don't worry we'll pass on your message" haven't heard anything since.

[splatspeed]

jim you are a star

next time he hits my workshop the police will be called for criminal damage

just making sure i am in the right

i never go past 6 pm with the noise on weekdays

and been laying off weekends

i have also moved the compressor away from his boundry and put it on foam

i am thinking of getting a bigger but quieter one

thanks sean

[gafferjim]

Get in first, contact the local council and ask for the enviromental officer in charge of noise pollution, have a good talk with him, get him to give you the guidelines (they may vary slightly to our council)even ask him to send you a letter to confirm what he's said, then if your neighbour kicks off, you show him a COPY of the letter (just in case he snatches it and tears it up!) be very polite, say that you would like to try to work with him on times that suited both of you if possible, but then if he still kicks off, damages anything of yours, threatens you etc, then you have grounds against him. (If one of out lawmen would like to comment please?)