24HLondon

Practical

Building work noise in London: allowed hours in every council

Published 13 October 2026

On this page

The short answer

Noisy building work in London is normally allowed 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on Saturday. Most councils allow none on Sundays or bank holidays. There is no national law fixing these hours: each council sets them. Saturdays are where councils differ. If work is noisy outside your council's hours, report it to the council.

There is no national law that sets building work hours. GOV.UK lists the hours as one of the things a council can put in a notice to a builder, and the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (section 60) lets a council “specify the hours during which the works may be carried out”. Breaking the notice is an offence: GOV.UK says it can bring an unlimited fine, with further fines for each day.

In practice, almost every London council publishes the same standard hours. We read the pages of 32 of the 33 councils on 13 October 2026; Barnet’s site refused our check.

At a glance

  • Weekdays, 8am to 6pm: every council that publishes hours (30 of the 32 we could check).
  • Saturday 8am to 1pm: 25 councils.
  • Saturday 9am to 2pm: City of London and Southwark. 8am to 2pm: Redbridge.
  • No noisy work on Saturday without permission: Kensington and Chelsea, Tower Hamlets.
  • Sundays and bank holidays: 25 councils say no noisy work. Haringey, Havering, Southwark and Wandsworth give no Sunday rule on these pages, and Lewisham mentions only bank and public holidays. That does not mean Sunday work is allowed.
  • No standard hours found on their pages: Kingston upon Thames, Sutton.

Does this apply to DIY at home?

Usually not in the same strict way. The standard hours are aimed at building sites and contractors. Several councils say so plainly:

  • Croydon: “These hours apply to substantial construction works not DIY or a one-off piece of work.”
  • Islington: “These hours do not relate to domestic DIY works”.
  • Waltham Forest: “You can do home DIY work at any reasonable time.”
  • Southwark: “It does not include DIY if it’s carried out at reasonable times.”

But DIY can still be a nuisance, and some councils give their own DIY hours:

  • Hackney recommends noisy DIY Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm (until 8pm if done after work) and Saturday 8am to 1pm.
  • Harrow: “Residents should not be carrying out DIY before 8am or after 8pm.”
  • Lewisham suggests DIY Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, and Sundays and bank holidays 10am to 2pm.
  • Havering gives the same hours for “ongoing construction and DIY”: weekdays 8am to 6pm, Saturday 8am to 1pm.

Every London council

Council Weekdays Saturday Sundays and bank holidays Notes Source
Barking and Dagenham 8am–6pm 8am–1pm None For “builders or contractors” council page
Barnet Not checked Not checked Not checked Its site refused our check on 13 October 2026 council page
Bexley 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No working council page
Brent 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No noisy building or demolition works Given as “recommended” times council page
Bromley 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No noisy operations Very loud or long DIY may be held to the same hours council page
Camden 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not without authorisation council page
City of London 8am–6pm 9am–2pm None, also other national holidays council page
Croydon 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No noisy activities Not for DIY or one-off work council page
Ealing 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No working council page
Enfield 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not allowed outside these times or on bank holidays Unless agreed with the council in advance council page
Greenwich 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not allowed council page
Hackney 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No working DIY: same, weekdays to 8pm if after work council page
Hammersmith and Fulham 8am–6pm 8am–1pm At no time council page
Haringey 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not listed Covers “building sites and home improvements” council page
Harrow 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No noisy work DIY: not before 8am or after 8pm council page
Havering 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not stated Applies to “ongoing construction and DIY” council information pack (PDF)
Hillingdon 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not permitted, also public holidays Work audible at the site boundary council page
Hounslow 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No noisy work council page
Islington 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No noisy work Not for domestic DIY council page
Kensington and Chelsea 8am–6pm None None Without written permission in advance; demolition and concrete-breaking only 9am–noon and 2pm–5.30pm council page
Kingston upon Thames Not published Not published Not published Its page refers to “specified working hours” without listing them council page
Lambeth 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not allowed council page
Lewisham 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Sundays not stated; none on bank and public holidays For contractors; DIY: weekdays 9am–7pm, Saturday 9am–5pm, Sunday 10am–2pm council page
Merton 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not normally allowed Cannot usually be used for one-off works or general DIY council page
Newham 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Closed council page
Redbridge 8am–6pm 8am–2pm No noisy works council page
Richmond upon Thames 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No noisy works Not intended for one-off work or DIY council page
Southwark 8am–6pm 9am–2pm Not stated Only enforceable where a Control of Pollution Act notice has been served on the site; not DIY at reasonable times council page
Sutton Not published Not published Not published No standard hours on its noise page council page
Tower Hamlets 8am–6pm None None Without prior consent; hours for sites with “S61 prior consent” council page
Waltham Forest 8am–6pm 8am–1pm No works Home DIY “at any reasonable time” council page
Wandsworth 8am–6pm 8am–1pm Not stated Work audible at the site boundary council page
Westminster 8am–6pm 8am–1pm, but no demolition, excavation or piling Not unless special permission DIY can be reported if persistent or at unreasonable hours council page

“Not stated” means the page gives weekday and Saturday hours but says nothing about Sundays. It does not mean Sunday work is allowed.

Use this data: every council’s hours, with noise-reporting routes and source links, as a free CSV or JSON (CC BY 4.0, how it was made).

Exceptions you may see

Some councils list exceptions. Waltham Forest, for example, lists “Emergency utility works”, “Railway works necessitating track closures” and “Highway works on major traffic routes”. Developers on bigger sites can also apply to the council in advance for agreed working methods and hours (a “section 61 consent”).

What to do about noisy building work

  1. Check your council’s hours in the table above.
  2. Talk to the builder or the site manager first.
  3. Keep a record of the days and times. Several councils ask for a diary sheet.
  4. Report it to your council, using the link in the table. For noise at night, see noise complaints at night: police, 101 or the council?

Related: Noise complaint at night: who to call · Fireworks late at night: what time is legal

Sources

Every statement above rests on a page we opened and checked on 13 October 2026. Councils change these pages; check yours before you rely on it.

Checked: 13 October 2026

← All guides