Overview
Party wall awards often include working hour restrictions. However, those restrictions usually apply only to the notifiable works covered by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, not to the whole building project.
This distinction matters. A party wall award is not a general site management document.
What surveyors can regulate
Surveyors can determine how and when notifiable works are carried out, where that is necessary to resolve the dispute and avoid unnecessary inconvenience to the adjoining owner.
Examples of notifiable works include:
- cutting into a party wall for beams or padstones;
- excavating close to and below neighbouring foundations;
- raising or altering a party wall;
- building certain new walls at or astride the boundary.
General building activity, such as internal refurbishment, plastering, decorating or ordinary non-notifiable works, is normally outside the surveyors' control.
Typical working hours
Awards often mirror local authority construction hours, for example:
- Monday to Friday: 8.00am to 6.00pm;
- Saturday: 8.00am to 1.00pm;
- Sundays and bank holidays: no notifiable works.
These hours are usually sensible because they reflect familiar environmental health expectations and are easy for both owners to understand.
When hours may be adjusted
There may be cases where working hours need to be refined. Examples include:
- particularly noisy notifiable works, such as breaking out or piling;
- sensitive neighbouring uses, such as care homes, hotels or medical premises;
- confined sites where access and disruption are more intense;
- works taking place very close to occupied rooms.
Even then, the test is reasonableness. The Act does not give an adjoining owner the right to eliminate every inconvenience caused by building work.
Enforcement
Party wall surveyors do not police sites. If a complaint arises, the first question is whether the activity complained about is actually work governed by the award.
If the complaint relates to general construction noise, the correct route is usually the local authority or the ordinary contractual/site management process, not the party wall surveyors.