Neighbours scaffolding – Am I being unreasonable?

powerful_Rogue

chrisdisco wrote: »

I have just bumped into my neighbour whilst doing work on my drive. All started out friendly until he told me that the scaffolding was going up next week. I said that I hadn't received the insurances and he said the scaffolder would bring them. I said what about the builders insurance, to which he get again said it was covered on his public liability insurance. I said I need a copy of that and does it cover work on your own house. He said that I couldn't stop him and the builders needed to work safely. I said that's fine, but I need to see the insurances. To which he said that he was starting to get annoyed and angry and stormed off into the house.

He obviously isn't listening to me and he's the type of character that could get quite nasty if caught in the wrong mood. Needless to say this has me worried.

To make things worse, I enquired at the local police station as to my stand in the law and what if he starts putting it up? They just said that it would be a civil dispute and i would need to go through a solicitor if he erects it. I also spoke to the council and they pointed me to environmental health. I haven't spoken to them yet but I'm not sure they would deal with this.

I'm now at a total loss. I don't really want the cost of a solicitor but just want things done correctly. How should I proceed now or should I give up?

If thats his attitude, sod neighbour relations.

I would be making it clear, that under no circumstances will you be allowing the scaffold company access to your land.

Im presuming he would ignore this warning. Would the scaffold company be able to gain access to your land if you was out?

Do you know which scaffold company he intends to use?

fed_up_and_stressed

Also how close to your house is the scaffolding going to be ?

I remember talking to a police chap who was telling me the m.o of the local burglar was to gain access via scaffolding.

silverwhistle

Will they need access to your drive? Know of any friends/neighbours with an old banger or van you could park there for a bit? Until you get written confirmation of what you need to know, of course..

chrisdisco

It would be the back of my drive and I think it would be at forward enough to stop me parking on my drive. I did think of parking an old banger on it but don't know anyone with one. I did think of parking my car there but the risk of damage is quite high.

I have said no but he said he has the right to put it there to work safely. I can't see this is the case as I have heard if people building from the inside out. The scaffold itself might be near my flat roof of the utility but there is only a small window there with a small opening.

What surprises me the most is the planning states that the work should not cause disruption to neighbours, but know one wants to do anything about it when it does happen.

fed_up_and_stressed

He has no right to come on to or put anything onto your land. It would be trespass.

(1) Trespass: Civil remedy. Note however that damages for simple trespass on its own are unlikely. There is also mitigation if the work forms part of emergency repairs. Obviously not the case here.

Note that there is a right of access for routine maintenance. If that is refused, entry may not be forced. The person seeking access must seek a court order. As stated above not applicable here though.

(2) Interference: Civil remedy. Compensation may be claimed for denial of the use and enjoyment of your property (e.g not being able to use your driveway.

(3) Criminal Damage: If they knowingly or recklessly cause any damage to your property (such as the car damage) Also possible civil matter

In the first instance, the best course of action is probably to get a local solicitor to fire off a very sharp letter to the neighbour. Make sure that you impress upon him/her that this is to be done immediately.

And take photograph of the damage to your car.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

All the stress's this is having now that's building up can quickly turn into a nightmarish neighbor WAR.


My small suspicion is that your BOTH approaching this with pre-emptive negative thoughts of 'if he makes this move then ill make this move' and he's thinking the same.


I honestly think that its time to break out the fine china tea cups and make some nice ice breaker brew some "rich-tea" biscuits pull up some pews and chat this one out amicably.


Having insurance details of the companies who are doing the work is although a reasonable request its not one the companies would be used to providing to a third party person upon request without the need for a claim to go in.
Having assurances of time scales can be pretty hard for your neighbor to give especially as theres many factors that can delay things, such as poor weather, availability of items to be delivered within the time allotted, quality of product issues, inspector sign offs and such, so he maybe vague on committing to giving a time period to you as he is unsure himself or that certain companies have not given him a time scale.


your right to be concerned over damage especially as damage has already occurred to your vehicle and his lack of interest at showing you some recompense for this, however his lack of interest may more to do with embarrassment than ignorance. a discussion is needed with him to highlight safety and protection whilst work is being done.


I think if you go down the rout of sounding interested in what he has planned rather than sounding your against his plan it should keep line of communication open rather than having a "stubbornness" perception of you to reinforce his need to not inform you but go ahead without your knowledge.

paddy's_mum

I agree that you need to fire a shot across his bullying, pig-headed bows by way of a solicitor's letter. His previous responses make it very clear which way his mind works and he is now simply trying to bamboozle you with veiled threats and a smokescreen of barrack room 'law' and 'rights'.

I'd also be following that up by a phone call or two round the local scaffolding companies and if you find out which firm has been contracted, write directly and formally to them making it very clear indeed that permission to enter your property is denied until and unless they provide full details of their insurance to your solicitor.

You can make it politely clear that it is not you being awkward and un-neighbourly but that your own insurers have told you that without the proof that he has full and proper insurance cover, your own cover may be withdrawn. You might also want to say that the mortgage company are also making 'noises' about what is happening and that talk of injunctions is flying about to prevent him putting you, your family and visitors, your house and your belongings at risk.

Only a plonker of the first water would get upset about what is your entirely reasonable request, and in my view, his behaviour so far is proving that he is of that type ..!

If you're still not sure whether to continue with the matter, ask yourself this - if it came to court action because your house had sustained real damage, how far is "he told me blah-blah-blah.." going to get you in persuading the judge to award you damages and/or compensation.

Being a good neighbour is a two way street and it's time this plonker was made to appreciate just how fair you are being. You have not denied him access. All you want, just like the majority of the rest of us, is for him to play by the rules.

In the final analysis, it is you and your home that stands to lose out if anything goes wrong and I believe that you are entirely justified in seeking to protect your own position. Only a fool would believe otherwise, surely?

Good luck.

chrisdisco

When I speak to him I don't talk to him to discuss the scaffolding, I take an interest in what he is doing and what he has planned. He will then drop into the conversation that the scaffolding is going up.

I realise that not everyone asks for insurance details, but he has openly admitted that the builder he is using doesn't have insurance and he wants to do most if the work himself. Realise that money is probably tight as with all building projects, but as damage has already been done, I do worry about my property.

When he first mentioned to me about the scaffolding, I asked him for the insurances and letter as stated above. He told me at this point it would be 3 weeks. I was the one that actually said to him the next time we spoke if 3 weeks would be enough and to factor in a few weeks for bad weather. I said I would rather know now than it run over and cause bad feeling. He then changed it to 6 weeks which I was fine with. It was next time we spoke after this that he admitted the builder didn't have insurance.

I would seriously love to sit down and talk this out with him, but as soon has he can't have his own way, he walks off in a huff. I have request the documents 4 times and we have spoken about it 5 times. At first he said he could get everything, but as time has gone on, he has gone back on most of it. The only thing he can now provide is his public liability insurance which he thinks covers him. This might be he case, but without seeing it, I can't be sure.

gwynhughes

The only solution is to refuse access to the scaffolder.....then he might take some notice of you!

chrisdisco

So yesterday was a bit awkward with me doing my drive and my neighbour working a few meters away but neither of us speaking to each other. This was what expected, so not a big deal.

His builder was round today who I have spoken to only once but seems a nice enough chap. He was butting up the concrete blocks for the outside wall. We decided to go out in my partners car and realised half way down the road that it had been splashed with concrete also!

Obviously not happy about this, we went back and I confronted him about it. He just said 'how could that be me' and carried on working. I said 'you going to come and have a look or take my word for it?' To which he just ignored. The builder on the other hand stopped what he was doing and came over with a bucket of water, cleaned off the cement and apologised. I said thanks and asked him if he could keep a bit more of an eye out for it in future. He said not a problem and apologised again.

I was very pleased with the way the builder handled things, just a shame my neighbour can't be more civilised. I'm fairly sure that he said the scaffolding would be going up tomorrow, so we will see what happens. Luckily my partner is off tomorrow so will contact me if anything happens.