advise urgently needed anyones help greatly appreciated.

Hi all.
I have come home to find next door has put up scaffolding around there house but more importantly in MY garden.
They have taken down the ivy that has been growing on both our houses ( which I must say I am very thankful for and saves us a job) and can see they need to get onto our side of the hose to remove it.
Only I was not consulted at all.
It is situated in the bit which is more of a corner rather than the main area we use of our front garden but does take up a reasonable amount of ground.
Not only do I have small children of my own but I also Childminder which they are aware of.
I don't know who has put this up, be it them, a company anybody?? how do I know it has been put up correctly and more important safely?
Am I right to be annoyed?
Should I say something to them?
I imagine I'm going to need to risk asses this? Should I create a document for them to sigh to say it's their responsibility?

Please tell me if I am panicing and over reacting.
I do feel that it is just rude to not even consult me in the matter.

They should have let you know at least - pop over and thank them for taking down your ivy and then ask them how long it's likely to be up. Then you can decide whether to write a risk assessment or to just not to play in the garden if it's coming down in the next couple of days :thumbsup:

They definitely should have asked your permission but if you are happy to have it and are friends with your neighbours then I wouldn't make a fuss - especially if it has benefited you. I would do a risk assessment for it.
I sometimes think our neighbours have a lot to put up with, all the coming and going, not to mention the noise from the garden

def. should have asked your permission. but not worth falling out over as I'm guessing you would have said yes if they'd asked.

I'd make your feelings known by using your parents an excuse. Just say some parents commented about it and it would have been nice to have known in advance to prepare them so they weren't so surprised. Tell them you would have said yes but for your job it avoids lots of problems if you can let your clients know in advance of any changes to your setting.

I'd have been annoyed too though. It's just manners :thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ja-lula-belli

Hi all.
I have come home to find next door has put up scaffolding around there house but more importantly in MY garden.
They have taken down the ivy that has been growing on both our houses ( which I must say I am very thankful for and saves us a job) and can see they need to get onto our side of the hose to remove it.
Only I was not consulted at all.
It is situated in the bit which is more of a corner rather than the main area we use of our front garden but does take up a reasonable amount of ground.
Not only do I have small children of my own but I also Childminder which they are aware of.
I don't know who has put this up, be it them, a company anybody?? how do I know it has been put up correctly and more important safely?
Am I right to be annoyed?
Should I say something to them?
I imagine I'm going to need to risk asses this? Should I create a document for them to sigh to say it's their responsibility?

Please tell me if I am panicing and over reacting.
I do feel that it is just rude to not even consult me in the matter.

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In your position I would RA ...BUT the most important thing is to find out what type of work is being carried and if the builders working on the scaffolding could be a hazard if you use the garden
Is there a danger of material falling into your garden?
How long is the scaffolding up for?

I have had scaffolding in my front path while the neighbours were redoing their roof...no problem .....but I had to check every morning because of debris and big screws.

Ask the neighbours to ensure the builders clear up every night before they go home

I would be very annoyed if this was done in my garden, but like others have said it is not worth falling out over.

If the scaffolding is going to be up for a few days could you use it as a learning tool for the children. You could talk about how it is constructed and about how to stay safe on a building site. Or you could even make some lovely wind chimes to hang from it, so that in the future the neighbours might be more considerate.

Good advice already given, ask them to notify you when it's coming down as presumably they will need to access your garden.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ja-lula-belli

Hi all.
I have come home to find next door has put up scaffolding around there house but more importantly in MY garden.
They have taken down the ivy that has been growing on both our houses ( which I must say I am very thankful for and saves us a job) and can see they need to get onto our side of the hose to remove it.
Only I was not consulted at all.
It is situated in the bit which is more of a corner rather than the main area we use of our front garden but does take up a reasonable amount of ground.
Not only do I have small children of my own but I also Childminder which they are aware of.
I don't know who has put this up, be it them, a company anybody?? how do I know it has been put up correctly and more important safely?
Am I right to be annoyed?
Should I say something to them?
I imagine I'm going to need to risk asses this? Should I create a document for them to sigh to say it's their responsibility?

Please tell me if I am panicing and over reacting.
I do feel that it is just rude to not even consult me in the matter.

---

At the very least, the neighbours should've asked permission as a courtesy. Sadly, this is becoming increasingly a problem. People feel they have a right to create noise, muck and hazard to 'improve' their lifestyles and bugg3r the rest of us if they "need" to impinge on the rest of us to do it. (Don't get me started on burglar/car alarms.....:angry: )

They might have some form of legal right to access your property within the deeds to the property. The fussy solicitor of the buyers of our previous house made lots of enquiries about this sort of thing: access to effect repairs, erect a fence, etc. etc. Sometimes our 'private' spaces are not quite so private as we may think.

It's a real PITA and I can well sympathise with you. You need to protect yourself, and have every right to feel affronted. But if you push it too far, you can end up the loser. You can do without a deteriorating relationship with a neighbour, who could resort to malicious complaints to Ofsted and the council, resulting in unwanted inspections and demands for planning permission to continue trading. It's not fair, but you need to remember you have far more to lose than the neighbour. :(

Consider whether you need to 'close' the garden and have an alternative scheme for daily outdoor play (park, etc.) You almost certainly need to RA even if it's just a question of parents walking past the scaffold on arrival/collection. Simona is absolutely right: the key risk relates to the nature of the work, possibility of falling objects; plus the integrity of the structure. I would be wanting to see (and get a written declaration from the neigbhour and their contractor) that they have sufficient PLI to cover any accidents, and make sure it covers you as a business, not just any individual casualties. You could well find that your own insurance would not cover any claim relating to this activity, so you absolutely make sure you are covered somehow. At worst, you could end up needing to close your service for the duration, and see if you can claim from the contractors. Not good. :(

You need everything in place asap, as anything could happen once the work is in progress. Be prepared for the workmen to get ar5ey. Scaffolding can cost £100s per day to erect/hire/maintain.

I strongly suggest you call your legal team to check. Also ask them about documents to indemnify you. Getting the work(wo)men to sign something isn't necessarily going to protect you. It depends how the "something" is worded (really a solicitor's job tbh, otherwise you may still be held liable for permitting the work to take place.) It's one of those things where nothing is likely to go wrong but, if it did go wrong, the consequences could be catastrophic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bunyip

At the very least, the neighbours should've asked permission as a courtesy. Sadly, this is becoming increasingly a problem. People feel they have a right to create noise, muck and hazard to 'improve' their lifestyles and bugg3r the rest of us if they "need" to impinge on the rest of us to do it. (Don't get me started on burglar/car alarms.....:angry: )

They might have some form of legal right to access your property within the deeds to the property. The fussy solicitor of the buyers of our previous house made lots of enquiries about this sort of thing: access to effect repairs, erect a fence, etc. etc. Sometimes our 'private' spaces are not quite so private as we may think.

It's a real PITA and I can well sympathise with you. You need to protect yourself, and have every right to feel affronted. But if you push it too far, you can end up the loser. You can do without a deteriorating relationship with a neighbour, who could resort to malicious complaints to Ofsted and the council, resulting in unwanted inspections and demands for planning permission to continue trading. It's not fair, but you need to remember you have far more to lose than the neighbour. :(

Consider whether you need to 'close' the garden and have an alternative scheme for daily outdoor play (park, etc.) You almost certainly need to RA even if it's just a question of parents walking past the scaffold on arrival/collection. Simona is absolutely right: the key risk relates to the nature of the work, possibility of falling objects; plus the integrity of the structure. I would be wanting to see (and get a written declaration from the neigbhour and their contractor) that they have sufficient PLI to cover any accidents, and make sure it covers you as a business, not just any individual casualties. You could well find that your own insurance would not cover any claim relating to this activity, so you absolutely make sure you are covered somehow. At worst, you could end up needing to close your service for the duration, and see if you can claim from the contractors. Not good. :(

You need everything in place asap, as anything could happen once the work is in progress. Be prepared for the workmen to get ar5ey. Scaffolding can cost £100s per day to erect/hire/maintain.

I strongly suggest you call your legal team to check. Also ask them about documents to indemnify you. Getting the work(wo)men to sign something isn't necessarily going to protect you. It depends how the "something" is worded (really a solicitor's job tbh, otherwise you may still be held liable for permitting the work to take place.) It's one of those things where nothing is likely to go wrong but, if it did go wrong, the consequences could be catastrophic.

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I agree with all of this and some other great advise given.

The key issues for me would be:

What work is being carried out so you can assess the impact on access to the garden and RA well.

What days and hours are the builders going to be working and how long will the work be going on for.

Is it possible for the scaffold in your garden to be boxed in around the bottom and safety netting to be put up (the way they do in pavement areas.) to make the base safe for you and the children and to minimize the rise of falling debris.


I don't understand people. We went to all our neighbours before we had our extension built to explain what we wanted to do, tell them how long we thought it would take and to warn them that we would have two large storage bins and a 21 foot Porta Cabin on our front garden for 4 months and that I would be working in the Porta Cabin. We worked on the basis that there would be noise and a bit of disruption for them and we wanted to keep them informed and on our side.

All good advice...another thing
Please take a picture of the scaffolding and all parts around it ...just in case of any damage caused by it

Good luck ja-lula-belli ...you will be ok. Hopefully the weather will improve and you can take the children out in the park.

I would just add you very much need to know what they will be doing up there, they could be spraying in which case make using any of the garden unuseable as fumes could be dangerousness x

20 years ago we came back from a 2 week holiday, pulled up outside the house and said "Where's the tree gone?????"
Our front garden is only about 15 ft deep, and in the front corner we had - or rather used to have - a 25 ft high tree!
Our next door neighbours came out and told us rather sheepishly that they'd had a surveyor in to value their house ready to sell it. He'd looked at some cracks in the upstairs bay of their house, and he'd told them it was possibly caused by the trees roots causing disturbance. So they had it cut down!!!!!!!!!!
They said they decided that as we were away it would be ideal, as the noise and mess wouldn't cause us any problem.
We were too taken aback to say much. We'd lived there for 3 years and got on well with our neighbours, but what a cheek!!!!!
We didn't particularly like the tree, but that wasn't the point (obviously) and we didn't have any cracks on our house to worry about, so never gave the tree any thought - it was just - "there"! Once we got over the shock we thought it really funny, and in actual fact it saved us the expense of having to do something about it ourselves at some point, but, OMG.

It could be that the people next door didn't know that they were going to do this. Scaffolding companies get on with their job. I'm sure they would have knocked but they still need to get it done. But they should have warned you of building work. I would RA and keep the kids away from that side of the garden.

Thank you all so much for your guidance.
I did pop over and ask What was going on but in a nicer way Lol
Seems even they didn't know the scaffolding was going up and should be coming down tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I have completed a ra and taken pics just incase.
X x x
I am shocked sometimes at people's attitude or lack of manners.