Builders in London can start noisy work at 8am on weekdays. Nearly every council allows it from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or bank holidays.
What time can builders start work in each London borough?
At 8am on weekdays in every borough. Saturdays are where they differ: Kensington and Chelsea allows no noisy work, Tower Hamlets asks for approval first, Southwark and the City of London run from 9am to 2pm, and Redbridge runs until 2pm. The table gives the hours for all 32 boroughs and the City of London, checked on 11 November 2026. Each row links to its source, apart from Kingston upon Thames and Sutton.
| Council | Hours for noisy building work |
|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Barnet | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Bexley | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Brent | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Bromley | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Camden | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| City of London | Weekdays 8am to 6pm, with noisy work held back from 10am to 12 noon and 2pm to 4pm. Saturdays 9am to 2pm |
| Croydon | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Ealing | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Enfield | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Greenwich | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Hackney | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Haringey | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Harrow | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Havering | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Hillingdon | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Hounslow | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Islington | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Kensington and Chelsea | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. No noisy work on Saturdays |
| Kingston upon Thames | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm (from planning conditions) |
| Lambeth | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Lewisham | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Merton | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Newham | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Redbridge | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 2pm |
| Richmond upon Thames | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Southwark | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 9am to 2pm |
| Sutton | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm (from planning conditions) |
| Tower Hamlets | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays only with the council's approval |
| Waltham Forest | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Wandsworth | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm |
| Westminster | Weekdays 8am to 6pm. Saturdays 8am to 1pm, with no demolition, excavation or piling |
Kingston upon Thames and Sutton had no general page that we could find, so their hours come from the conditions those councils attach to planning permissions. No borough's hours include Sundays or bank holidays.
What counts as noisy work?
Work that can be heard at the site boundary. Enfield and Wandsworth word it that way, and Greenwich says quiet work that disturbs nobody can go on at almost any time of the day.
Some councils set shorter windows for the loudest work. Southwark asks for a pattern of two hours on and two hours off, for instance 8am to 10am, 12 noon to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm on weekdays and 11am to 1pm on Saturdays. Kensington and Chelsea limits demolition and concrete breaking to 9am to 12 noon and 2pm to 5.30pm on weekdays. Westminster allows no demolition, excavation or piling on Saturdays without special permission.
Can builders work outside these hours?
Most councils expect their agreement first, apart from emergencies. Islington and Enfield say so on their pages. The formal route is prior consent under section 61 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which sets the hours and methods for that job. Westminster and Newham ask for the application at least 28 days before the work starts. A council can also serve a notice under section 60 of the same Act that sets a site's hours.
Do planning conditions or a lease change the hours?
Yes, and the stricter rule applies. A planning permission can carry its own hours for that site. In a block of flats or a commercial building, the landlord or managing agent often sets shorter hours for noisy work, usually in the licence to alter or the building's fit-out rules. Ask for those rules before the programme is agreed, because they change how many working hours there are in a week.
What permits does building work in London need?
Four are common where the work reaches the street: a parking suspension, a skip licence, a scaffold licence and a hoarding licence. The borough issues them, and each has its own lead time.
| Permit | When it is needed |
|---|---|
| Parking suspension | To keep a bay clear for a skip, a delivery or a works vehicle. Each borough takes bookings through its own parking pages |
| Skip licence | For a skip on a public road. A skip cannot go on the pavement. The skip company normally applies, and GOV.UK finds the right council by postcode |
| Scaffold licence | For scaffolding on or over the pavement or road. The builder or scaffolding company applies, and GOV.UK says the customer should check the licence is in place and lasts until the work ends |
| Hoarding licence | For a fence or hoarding that stands on the pavement |
Ask who is applying for each one and whether the wait is in the programme. They are normally priced in the prelims.
Send us the postcode and any rules from your landlord or managing agent, and we will plan the noisy work inside both sets of hours. We reply within one working day. Start with the postcode.