Noise issues
How do Environmental Health assess noise complaints?
Environmental Health assess noise complaints to determine if the alleged noise constitutes a statutory nuisance which is defined by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as something which:
- is likely to be injurious, or likely to cause injury to health
- is likely to cause an unreasonable and substantial interference with a person's use and enjoyment of their home or other premises
- is significantly more than an 'annoyance'
If a statutory nuisance is proven to exist an Abatement Notice may be served on the perpetrator. Not complying with an Abatement Notice is a criminal offence.
Types of noise that we cannot investigate
Environmental Health cannot investigate the following:
| Example | Who to contact |
|---|---|
Noise from moving vehicles such as:
| Cleveland Police on telephone 101 |
| Anti-Social Behaviour in the street or highway | Civic Enforcement on 01642 607943 or civic.enforcement@stockton.gov.uk or Cleveland Police on telephone 101 |
| Noise from railways | Network Rail |
| Noise from aircraft | Civil Aviation Authority |
Types of noise that we can investigate
Environmental Health can investigate the following but if they are considered to be normal everyday noise they are unlikely to amount to a statutory nuisance.
| Example | Context |
|---|---|
| Shouting, screaming and raised voices | Occasional raised voices or loud talking is unlikely to amount to a statutory nuisance, however if this behaviour was excessive, unreasonable and occurring frequently it may be considered to be a statutory nuisance. |
| Noise from children | Children playing during daytime hours at their property is unlikely to amount to a statutory nuisance. However, if this was occurring frequently, particularly at unsocial hours it may be a statutory nuisance. |
| Slamming doors | An occasional door slamming is unlikely to be a statutory nuisance as doors slamming can be considered everyday noise. However, if the door slamming was excessive, unreasonable, with malice, occurring frequently then it may be a statutory nuisance. |
| Heavy footsteps | Heavy footsteps, typically in flats, is usually considered to be everyday living noise. However, if this was occurring at unsocial hours on a regular basis it may be considered to be a statutory nuisance. |
| Poor sound insulation between properties | Which may cause normal living behaviour to become a problem to adjoining residents. In such circumstances where the alleged noise maker is behaving reasonably but inadequate sound insulation results in excessive noise transfer between properties, this is typically not something which results in statutory nuisance action. |
| One-off complaints | Although they can be deemed a statutory nuisance, the assessment and tests for such incidents are relatively high. Examples of one-off complaints which could amount to a statutory nuisance may include intruder alarms and illegal raves. Whilst Environmental Health can investigate one-off complaints it is typically unlikely for general noise complaints to be considered a statutory nuisance if there is no repetitive nature to the complaint. |
The impact on you must be unreasonable and significantly impact you at your property or premises.
Examples of noise which can be investigated and may amount to a statutory nuisance include:
- construction noise
- barking dogs
- noise from licensed premises
- agricultural noise
- equipment and machinery in the street
- DIY noise
- intruder alarms
- bird scarers
- stationary vehicles on private land
- tannoys on vehicles such as ice cream vehicles
- loud music or television
- industrial plant noise
- commercial noise
- alarms from stationary vehicles
- vehicles servicing premises for collections or deliveries
How do Environmental Health investigate complaints of nuisance
To enable Environmental Health to adequately assess a noise complaint to determine if a statutory nuisance exists, an officer who is trained to investigate and determine statutory nuisance complaints requires:
- you must provide your full and accurate contact details so that we can contact you to discuss our procedure and agree a method of investigation - all complaints received are dealt with as allegations, we do not identify who the complainant is to the alleged perpetrator
- you must provide details of the address or land where the alleged nuisance is coming from to enable us to notify the owner or occupier of the complaint in writing
- you must fill in diary sheets detailing how the alleged nuisance impacts you over a number of weeks
- you must allow noise recordings to be undertaken from your premises or allow officers from the Council to visit your premises to enable the trained officers to substantiate the noise diaries and determine if a statutory nuisance exists
How is a statutory nuisance determined?
When making an assessment we consider the following factors:
- the duration of the alleged nuisance
- the frequency which the alleged nuisance occurs
- the impact upon the complainant of the alleged nuisance
- the character of the locality where the alleged nuisance exists
- motive of the alleged noise maker
- undue sensitivity of the complainant
Intruder alarms
You can contact us for help if an intruder alarm has been sounding continuously for more than 20 minutes or intermittently for more than an hour. We will try to find a key holder or silence the alarm from outside of the property if we need to.
If you are going on holiday or going to be away from your home for a while, you should let us and your neighbours know who to contact if your intruder alarm sounds in error. This will help us to deal with complaints about your intruder alarm if it sounds in error while you are away. If we cannot find a key holder to your property and your alarm is causing a problem for your neighbours, we may silence it ourselves and charge you for the work.
Contact Environmental Health
Please be advised that noise complaints and documented disputes that you make against other residents may need to be disclosed should you sell your property in the future. Please speak to your solicitor for further information.
