In the age of Coronavirus, many of us have adjusted to working from home - around 37% of employees worked from home during the peak of the pandemic in 2020.

But what about if you are having building work done? In the past, you could head off to work and leave the dust and noise behind. But in 2021, many of us are facing both living and working on a building site if you’re having alterations made to your home.

Building noise can be hard to block out, but if you have builders shouting and a loud radio blasting for the duration of the working day, it can leave you struggling to get your work done.

Here are some things you can do to reach a compromise that works for both you and your builders.

Have an honest conversation

Honesty is often the best policy. It is worth talking to your builders at the beginning of each day to let them know if there are times when they can have the radio on, such as during lunchtimes, and when they can’t, such as during meetings.

Doing this daily will help to keep everyone on the same page. Builders aren’t used to having company at home while they’re doing their work, so the recent changes are new to them too. After all, you are sharing their workspace now.

There are guides produced by councils which help you to find out what you can reasonably expect from builders when they are on-site. They have a duty to keep all construction noise, including radios, to a minimum where possible. 

Adjust your work patterns

It might be possible for you to adjust your working hours to work around the builders and give them the autonomy that they are used to while they are on-site.

Take a look at your local authority’s website to find out what time builders can start and finish in your area and try to work around their schedule. This can work well for smaller jobs that take a few days to complete.

It could also be worth talking to your builders to see if they can work reduced hours every day to accommodate your work pattern. It may take longer to complete the building work, but if everyone is happy to accommodate differing priorities, then it could be a great solution.

Can you ask them to use headphones?

If builders want to listen to music, perhaps you could ask them to bring personal devices and their own headphones. However, there are good reasons why builders might be reluctant to do this. Construction and building sites can be dangerous places, with the ability to hear essential to spotting problems and avoiding health and safety incidents.

Health and safety regulators urge caution for people on construction sites when it comes to headphones. If your builders are reluctant to listen to their own devices, then it is probably best that you agree on no radio at all if you can’t work around the issue.

Working with builders can be a challenging process when you are both trying to work from the same space, but with a bit of communication and some ground rules, you can make it work for everyone.

If you are considering extending or altering your home, you may find some of these services useful: