Noise and nuisance

If you have a problem with noise, which you cannot deal with yourself, you can call the Council at any time of the day or night and we will assist you in one or more of the following ways:

• if the problem is happening at the time of your call a Noise and Nuisance Officer will visit you and attempt to resolve the problem straight away if possible (subject to the information below and the officers being on duty - see the timetable below)  
• if the noise or nuisance is not actually occurring (or it is not possible to resolve it at the time) the Noise and Nuisance Officer will contact you on the next working day to take further details about the problem (what is it? what causes it? how long has it been disturbing you? when does it occur?) so we can consider the best way of dealing with it
• at weekends and Bank Holidays during the day we provide a service that deals predominantly with certain types of extreme noise, for example from building sites and intruder alarms. At such times we would not expect to be asked to investigate routine complaints of low-level neighbour noise such as music or DIY
• although you can call the service at anytime, officers will only be able to visit dependent on demand at the following times:

Monday – Thursday      7:30am – 1:00am 

Friday                           7:30am – 2:30am

Saturday                       9:00am – 2:30am

Sunday                         9:00am – 2:30am 

You may be asked to record details of when you are disturbed by the noise or nuisance .

At various times after your initial call we will review the information and decide whether we have sufficient evidence to take legal action such as the service of an abatement notice. However, we will consult you throughout the process, particularly at key stages, for example, before serving a notice.

• email us at: environmentalhealth@rbkc.gov.uk
• download the Noise and Nuisance Service Customer Information Leaflet [PDF] (file size 51Kb)
• taking action yourself - see our guide if you are pursuing an action independently

The team's main work is to control noise from both domestic homes and commercial businesses. We also deal with other nuisances such as smells, dust, and a range of other environmental health problems that occur outside office hours.

• what is a Statutory Nuisance?

• the science of noise, and noise terminology
• common nuisances
• how to avoid causing a nuisance to your neighbours
• about the Noise and Nuisance Service

For information on our enforcement policy see Directorate of Environmental Health Enforcement Policy.