What it's like living next to the build in your own garden

What is it really like to live next to a build in your garden?

It is noisy and busy at times, quiet at others, and much easier when the rules are agreed before work starts. The loud phases tend to be clearing, groundworks and foundations; once the shell is up and the roof is on, most work moves inside the new building and the disruption drops.

Most problems come from things that were never written down: where the builders park, when deliveries arrive, who can use the drive, and what happens to your lawn. Whether you are having a home built for yourself or a buyer is building on the plot you sold, a short written plan for living alongside the site is worth as much as the drawings.

This guide covers both cases in England and Wales. Where rules differ between the two, it says so.

What has to happen before work starts?

Several things must be in place before anyone breaks ground, and some of them directly protect you. Pre-commencement planning conditions must be discharged, which often include a construction management plan setting out hours, deliveries, parking and dust control. Building control approval and, where relevant, a structural warranty need arranging.

In Wales, drainage approval from the SuDS Approval Body is needed before construction starts on any scheme with a construction area of 100 square metres or more, which takes in most single new homes. Party wall notices must be served in time if the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies.

It is also sensible to photograph your house, drive, boundary walls and garden before work starts. A dated record makes it far easier to agree any repairs at the end.

• Planning conditions discharged, including any construction management plan.
• Building control and warranty arrangements in place.
• Party wall notices served and any awards agreed.
• Written agreement on driveway use, parking and access to your house.
• Photographic record of your property’s condition.
• Contact details for the site manager, and a way to raise problems.

Who is responsible for health and safety on the site?

On most domestic projects, the builder is. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 say that where the client is a domestic client, the client’s duties pass to the contractor if there is only one, or to the principal contractor if there is more than one, unless a written agreement passes them to the principal designer.

A domestic client is someone having work done that isn’t in the course of a business. If you are having a home built for your own family, you are likely to be one. If you are building to sell or let, ask your builder or designer whether you count as a commercial client, because the duties change.

Either way, the site should be secured so that children, visitors and pets can’t wander in, and you should never be asked to manage the builders’ safety yourself.

How is the site set up and separated from your home?

A good site set-up puts a solid barrier between your home and the work. That usually means a hoarding or secure fencing along the line of the new boundary, a lockable gate for the site, and a clear route for the builders that doesn’t pass your doors and windows.

The site will need space for a welfare cabin, a toilet, materials storage and skips. On a narrow garden plot, that space is tight, so agree where each goes before work starts. Ask for storage and skips to be kept away from your windows and for the hoarding to be solid where it faces your garden.

If the new home’s permanent boundary fence or wall can be built early, it often makes a better screen than temporary fencing and saves money at the end.

What hours can the builders work?

Working hours are usually set by a planning condition or the approved construction management plan, and they are typically shorter on Saturdays, with no noisy work on Sundays or bank holidays. There is no single national set of hours, so check the decision notice and the plan for your site.

Councils also have powers of their own. Section 60 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which applies in England and Wales, lets a council serve a notice on a construction site controlling the hours of work, the machinery used and the noise levels allowed.

If you are the client, you can also write hours into the building contract, including quiet periods, for example for a home worker or a baby’s nap times. It is easier to agree these at the start than to renegotiate mid-build.

Will the builders need to use your driveway?

Often, yes, at least at the start, if the only way into the plot is along the side of your house. Before work starts, agree in writing which parts of the drive they can use, when, for what vehicles, and how it will be protected and repaired.

Heavy vehicles can crack block paving and damage drains under the drive, so ask for ground protection boards, weight limits and a condition survey. Agree where you will park while the access is in use, how you will get your own car out, and who is responsible if a delivery blocks you in.

Where you have sold the plot, the transfer will normally grant the buyer a right of way. Construction use is usually dealt with separately, with a licence or covenants covering times, repairs and making good. Get it agreed before completion of the sale.

How are deliveries and parking managed?

Deliveries and parking are usually covered by the construction management plan, which can set delivery times, where lorries wait, whether a banksman guides vehicles in, and where workers park. Following it is the builder’s responsibility.

On a narrow access, large deliveries such as concrete, steel, roof trusses or a crane for a timber frame need careful planning. Ask for a delivery schedule for the big days so you can move your car and warn your neighbours. Workers’ vans parked on the street are a common source of complaints, so agree where they will go.

How are dust, noise and mud controlled?

Dust, noise and mud are controlled by good site practice, and the construction management plan should say how. Expect cutting with water to keep dust down, damping down dry ground, covered skips and stockpiles, clean roads and pavements, and quieter equipment where possible.

Keep windows facing the site closed on noisy days and ask for a heads-up before especially loud work, such as breaking out concrete or piling. If things go wrong, raise it with the site manager first. If that doesn’t work, the council’s environmental health team deals with construction noise and nuisance.

Does the Party Wall Act apply to a build in your garden?

It can, both to your house and to your neighbours. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies in England and Wales to new building on or at the boundary between two properties, work to an existing party wall, and excavation near a neighbour’s building.

The government’s explanatory booklet says excavation notices are needed for digging within 3 metres of a neighbouring building that goes deeper than its foundations, or within 6 metres where the dig would cut a line drawn down at 45 degrees from the bottom of those foundations. Notice periods are one month for excavation and for a new wall on the boundary line, and two months for work to an existing party wall.

If a neighbour doesn’t agree in writing within 14 days, a dispute is treated as having arisen and surveyors are appointed. The booklet says the building owner usually pays the surveyors’ costs where the work is solely for their benefit. If the plot was sold, the buyer is the building owner and serves the notices, including on you.

How do you keep your privacy and use of your garden?

Plan privacy from the start. Scaffolding at first-floor level can look straight into your garden and back rooms, so ask about screening it, and about which elevations will be scaffolded and for how long.

Permanent privacy comes from the design: window positions, obscure glazing where appropriate, rooflights instead of side windows, and planting. Make sure what is built matches what was approved, and raise it early if it doesn’t.

Keep the part of the garden you are keeping clearly separated, and agree that nothing is stored or dumped there. If trees are being kept, protective fencing around their roots should stay in place throughout the build.

Nesting birds are protected too. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence in England and Wales to take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built, so hedge and tree work should be planned around that.

What insurance should be in place?

Tell your home insurer before work starts, because a building site next to your house can change your cover. Ask the builder for evidence of their public liability and contract works insurance, and check that the policies are current and cover damage to your existing property.

If you are the client on the new home, agree in the contract who insures the works in progress. A structural warranty covers certain defects in the finished home, not damage during construction, so it doesn’t replace site insurance.

What happens at the end: snagging and handover?

At the end, the new home is checked for defects, the site is cleared and your property is put back as agreed. Snagging means walking round with the builder and listing every defect or unfinished item, then checking each is fixed.

Ask for the building control completion certificate, the warranty documents, test and commissioning certificates for heating, electrics and any sprinklers, and as-built drawings showing drains and services. Without building control approval, GOV.UK warns you may not have the certificates you need when selling.

Then walk your own property with the dated photos taken before work began. Agree repairs to the drive, lawn, fences and anything else affected, and get them done before the site team leaves for good.