Construction sites are outdoors and are often located close to existing living spaces. Residents generally accept noise from construction sites, but complain when work starts early or ends late, or takes place on Saturday afternoons, Sundays or holidays. Complaints about construction noise may be investigated by Environment Department employees. Before filing a complaint, check the list to see if your complaint is something we can investigate and you can use mediation to resolve the issue. In mediation, an independent third party listens to your point of view and that of your neighbour to help you reach an agreement. It is important to try to resolve the issue informally. This shows a court that you have acted reasonably if you have to take legal action later. If you are unable to submit the noise log electronically via the form, please send a paper version of the noise log to the Public Protection Service, Plymouth City Council, Windsor House, Tavistock Road, Plymouth, PL6 5UF. Please enter your address and the original address of the noise problem. Councils are responsible for dealing with noise complaints by: Under the Noise Act, if a council investigates a noise complaint about a neighbour, place, pub, club or restaurant at night, you can: There are no periods during which loud music is expressly permitted. If the noise disturbs others, then it is a nuisance, regardless of the time of day or day of the week. If everyone liked the same sounds, noise wouldn`t be a problem. What music is to your ears, your neighbor may not like.
Entertainment venues and neighbors can cause noise pollution. Your local council can help you with noise problems. Not only can professional workers generate noise, but the guidelines for noisy DIY work are also less clear. Neighborhood conflicts are often the word of one person against another, so it can be difficult to prove it. Talk to other residents to see if there are other people who can support your version of what`s going on. You may need an independent witness to confirm that noise is occurring and that it is inappropriate. For more information, visit our Tips for Retrieving Evidence page. For more information on how to do this, see How to take your own legal action. Under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, any person who believes he is suffering from legal noise pollution may bring his or her own private civil action against the polluter.
For more information, contact a lawyer or the Citizen Advisory Office. Boards can notify people carrying out construction or demolition work and tell them how the work will be carried out to avoid possible legal noise nuisance. If the Commission considers that the noise still exceeds the permissible value after the specified period and wishes to be continued, it must measure the noise level at the complainant`s home. The use of loudspeakers for advertising purposes at any time is a criminal offence: the report assesses the possible effects of noise on health and well-being and recommends how to reduce or eliminate noise impacts. Sometimes a building or development, such as planned renewable energy facilities, waste disposal facilities, quarries and transportation networks, may require an environmental impact assessment. How councils handle complaints about noise at night, burglar alarms, construction noise and loudspeakers on the street. Brochure on noise pollution in Scotland: «Sound Advice on Noise» If there is a problem with a neighbour, write down (with some sort of newspaper page) the date and time of the noise. Add a description of what the sound is, how long it lasts, and how you feel. This will help gather evidence for your case. For more information on how we investigate your complaint, please read our Noise Complaint Investigation Procedure.
Planners can issue building permits, with or without conditions, for a building or development. The conditional building permit may include the necessary measures that must be taken to reduce potentially unacceptable loud noise. If informal testing doesn`t work, you can complain about noise to your community: poor sound insulation is a problem in many homes. This often means that you can hear domestic sounds from your neighbor, such as footsteps, words, falling objects, or children playing. It can be stressful, but you may have to learn to live with this noise because they have the legal right to live their lives and create normal amounts of noise without having to worry about how it will affect you. You can fight with noisy children or maybe your neighbor is hard of hearing and has his TV too loud. Nevertheless, we must balance a certain degree of tolerance towards others when it comes to antisocial behaviour. For more information on how agencies measure noise, click here. The text has been amended under «Noise at night: warnings» to make it clear that councils can investigate complaints of legal nuisance at any time of the day or night.