next door scaffolding over my conservatory no netting

littlerock

I live in a Victorian house with a glass roofed conservatory built in the side return. My next door neighbour does not have anything in his side return. He is having his house re-roofed and they have erected scaffolding in the side return.

I am a bit concerned about my conservatory roof should anything fall or blow off their roof while work is in progress so I asked him to confirm with the scaffolders that they would be putting up netting. The scaffolders said they would not, as it would be "fine". (The scaffolders are not the builders.) My neighbour just repeated what the scaffolders said. I have looked up the scaffolders online and there are lots of photos of their scaffolding and none of it is netted.

It might be fine but it is March and can get very windy. Whose insurance would cover any damage to my property e.g. debris falling off the roof or scaffolding onto my conservatory - the builder or the scaffolder or the neighbour?

Ant555

Turning this on its head for a moment - is there now an opportunity for you to easily clean your conservatory frame?

My white plastic one takes some doing with precarious perching on ladders/fence and brushes on long poles.

tadpoleuk

My car was recently damaged by rubble coming off next doors scaffolding. If I were you I would take photos showing that there is no damage to your roof with the scaffolding in shot and that at the moment your roof is clear of debris.

So much building rubbish landed on my car I needed the front respraying. The worst damage was caused when the scaffolding was swept down and dismantled.

In my case the scaffolding company paid for the respray. Without legal action and within a week. I sort of got the feeling this was not uncommon. The whole incident was not nice and could have been avoided with a little thought and some netting.

I would talk to your neighbour again and explain that you are rightly worried and would he please try to organise some netting. He is the one who will be paying for the work to be done. I don't even think netting would cost much.

Good luck.

littlerock

I spoke to my neighbour first thing, with whom I am on good terms. He just looked at me blankly (he is like that) when I expressed my concern about the possibility of any wind blowing something off the scaffolding on my conservatory roof.

He looked even blanker when I asked about netting as it had clearly not occurred to him that anything might fall on my conservatory roof even though their scaffolding juts out over it. He said he would speak to the scaffolders but I have not heard any more.

I then spoke to the head scaffolder who said they had not been asked to install any netting and had no plans to do so.

Thanks for the tip re photos. I have taken some which shows the glass on the roof is currently intact.

Gordon_Hose

You can't assume anything definitely will fall off the scaffolding. You can't force them to isntall netting.

If something does damage your conservatory then, and only then, can you claim.

It's definitely worth taking pictures, maybe with a date stamp showing, to prove the condition before they start.

SailorSam

When my neighbours had scaffolding like that next to my garage, the builers laid sheets of plywood on my garage roofm just in case. You should speak to the builder and ask he do something.

I_have_spoken

Whose insurance would cover any damage to my property

A reputable company would have public liability insurance.

their scaffolding juts out over it

That's a trespass as their equipment is in the 'air space' of your property.

littlerock

I spoke to my neighbour's wife who is the more sensible party and she said she understood my concerns and would send her husband round to see me. He duly appeared and said he had never heard of netting being used on scaffolding (he is a town planner so I suppose he always denies everything on principle.) He appeared to be genuinely puzzled that I should take any interest in the works as they affected my conservatory.

However he had spoken to the builder who said that nets would not necessary and they would be very careful. He felt this was sufficient. Meanwhile the builder turned up this morning (in an unmarked van) and unloaded a large quantity of roof slates which the builders are now stacking up on the top level of the scaffolding. I spoke to the council planning department who said that as the scaffolding is on private land they have no authority or control over what is erected.

Doozergirl

If they are working on the roof, then the scaffolding lifts are to get access to the top of the house.

There is no use in netting as they aren't working around the house. They are working above the scaffolding. If something were to be blown hard enough to damage your roof, any netting won't stand a chance anyway.

There is some risk but I think good advice has been given in terms of taking some 'before' pictures and possibly covering your roof - not the scaffolding. The scaffolding co aren't obliged to cover your roof. If there is any damage, it will be their responsibililty to fix.

They'll be gone very soon. I should think if bad weather were expected, they wouldn't be starting. Roofers are very weather conscious.

littlerock

My conservatory is up to the party wall and pretty large (put in by previous owner). I cannot access it unless I go onto their land and they have now put the scaffolding up on their side next to it so it is not accessible anyway. The scaffolding goes all round their house. The scaffolding at the side overhangs the side passage to my house and impedes access to it.

I mentioned this to my neighbour who said he had told me he was having work done on his roof in advance. He did and said they would not need to come onto my property to put up the scaffolding - which they have not - however there was no mention of it overhanging my side path and restricting my access. Neither my neighbour nor the scaffolders asked permission for this. Who should have sought permission? The neighbour or the scaffolders?

I do not think it will be that quick a job. They are having the entire roof replaced and several veluxes installed. This is a major job as it is a complex roof structure.

rdr

There are two issues here, large stuff, like tiles and bricks, falling. This must be prevented by brick guards (metal mesh on the scaffold) and this is enforcable by the HSE. On the other hand grit and dirt are far more difficult to control. Sheeted scaffolds are difficult and expensive as they need to be designed to cope with wind generated forces.

The best solution would be brick guards and covering the conservatory to keep it clean.

We'll be carefull is builder speak for "we cba to pay a couple of quid for brick guards".