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I live in Whitechapel, London, which is very central and convenient. It is also noisy and, despite the efforts of Tower Hamlets council, it is often dirty.

I think this is a reasonable price to pay for living in central London. For years, the council has been planning and building a new library or "idea store" on the plot next to the old brewery offices in which my apartment is located.

The building required numerous piles, the driving of which resulted in frequent vibrations as well as road closures, deliveries, dust, dirt and the general noise emanating from a construction site. This is all part of living or working in a city that is subject to regular refurbishment and new building projects. But do residents have to put up with the inconvenience caused by construction projects on their doorstep?

The answer is a qualified yes.

The law in this area has evolved over many centuries so both common law and statutory provisions must be considered. The common law recognises "public nuisance" and "private nuisance".

A public nuisance is one that causes damage, inconvenience or injury to a class of the public who come within the sphere or neighbourhood of its operation; a private nuisance has been defined in various cases as unlawful interference with a person's use or enjoyment of land, or some right over land or in connection with it.

In the classic case on private nuisance relating to building operations, Andreae v Selfridge & Company Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that no cause of action arises in respect of operations, such as demolition and building, if they are reasonably carried on and all reasonable and proper steps are taken to ensure that no undue inconvenience is caused to neighbours. The court also held that in determining what is reasonable, methods of building and demolition must not be taken as stabilised, but new inventions and new methods may be reasonable.

Contracts often contain strict provisions on times and methods of working that are intended to reduce the inconvenience

The judge giving the leading judgment in the Selfridge case, Sir Wilfred Greene, said: "All those questions [that is, those relating to the use of proper skill and care and the taking of proper precautions] are matters of common sense and degree and quite clearly it would be unreasonable to expect people to conduct their work so slowly or expensively, for the purpose of preventing a transient inconvenience, that the cost and trouble would be prohibitive. It is all a question of fact and degree …

"The use of reasonable care and skill in connection with matters of this kind may take various forms. It may take the form of restricting the hours during which work is to be done; it may take the form of limiting the amount of a particular type of work which is being done simultaneously within a particular area; it may take the form of using proper scientific means of avoiding inconvenience."

This is clearly not an unqualified licence to a contractor or developer as to his methods of construction. Indeed, in the Selfridge case, the defendant was required to pay damages to the plaintiff as it had, according to Greene, "at certain stages and in certain respects, shown a reprehensible lack of regard for the duty which it owes to its neighbours".

In certain cases, apart from exposure to possible claims for damages, the court may grant an injunction to restrain the carrying out or continuation of an act held to amount to a nuisance.

In practice, construction contracts often contain strict and clear provisions regarding times and methods of working that are intended to reduce the inconvenience caused. These cover not only the common law requirements but also take account of specific requirements in planning permissions and the demands of authorities such as the police. Of course, they also cover the statutory requirements governing noise, contained in the Control of Pollution Act 1974, and more general environmental issues (including matters prejudicial to health, smoke, fumes and noise), contained in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and subsequent amending legislation, which also gives power to local authorities to serve abatement notices.

Finally, the construction industry exercises self-regulation through such initiatives as the Considerate Constructors Scheme pioneered by the City of London and now in use on many major sites (see "Green for go", below). This scheme, operated by the Construction Confederation, is designed to encourage contractors to operate their sites in a safe and considerate manner.